


You are my only light in the darkness

by Lightningtiger2



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Grant Ward Redemption, Non-Graphic Violence, Romance, Some angst, Starts after Season 1 and goes from there
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-22
Updated: 2017-09-24
Packaged: 2018-05-15 14:28:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 32
Words: 35,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5788816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lightningtiger2/pseuds/Lightningtiger2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Grant Ward is a traitor locked up in prison, he feels he deserves this punishement, but when a second chance comes will he take it? Meanwhile a new and dark force is rising in power and  seeks to destroy what is left of S.H.I.E.L.D .... My Grant Ward Redemption Story, Also posted on FF.net</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Reflections

**Author's Note:**

> I have had this story on FF.net for a while, and finally decided to post it here, Please read and review, because I love reviews

Chapter One

Reflections

Ex-agent Grant Ward looked at the gray wall in front of him. He was a prisoner now he had been brutally beaten by May and then apprehended and sent to prison by Coulson.He wondered if Fitzsimmons ,his former S.H.I.E.L.D. team members had survived the fall into the ocean. He was the one who had dropped them into the ocean at that time he knew they had a better chance of survival. If they had stayed on the bus Garret surely would have killed them without any remorse He hoped there was a chance Coulson and the rest of the team would find them. Still it troubled him greatly that he had sent his former colleges to their potential deaths. (That stupid pod was supposed to float).Coulson had threatened that he would be tortured internally as well as externally, and he supposed this was part of it not knowing if they survived or not.

That is not what troubled Ward, he deserved to be tortured , to feel pain. No, Grant Ward hated himself because the truth was despite Garret's warnings not to get attached to anyone or anything he had become attached to his S.H.I.E.L.D teammates.In fact if he was truly honest with himself they had become like a family to him. A real family not the abusive family he had to live with during his childhood.

Coulson, had become a very father-like figure to him. Coulson tried to be stern, but the man was too soft and kind hearted to ever utter a harsh word.

May, he had been involved with her physically and while he didn't have any romantic feelings for her, he felt like she was someone he could vent to, his equal ( or perhaps even better) when it came to combat.

Simmons, sweet Simmons had become like a sister. Half the time he had no clue what she was talking about. She always used various scientific terms and british words and it always confused him. While he had been acting most of the time he genuinely did believe that she was brave when she had contracted the virus and threw herself off the plane in order to protect the rest of the team.

Fitz, little Fitz had become like a little brother and reminded him so much of his old dog Buddy. His dog who he didn't have the strength to kill....

And then there was.. He could barley think of her name... And then there was Skye... The unaccounted variable, the person who had thrown a wrench into the works , the girl he had fallen in love with...

Not that it mattered now anyway, she hated him, despised him, in fact the whole team absolutely hated him. He deserved it though after what he put them through. Especially Fitzsimmons , and it killed him that he had hurt her. He had told her that he would never hurt her, but thats just what he had done, he had hurt her the most out of any of his former teammates because he had broken her heart. He wished he could take it all back, to start over and tell Coulson the truth from the beginning.

Sure they would have been mad , but had he told them the truth early on he would have had a chance to prove himself, to help take down Hydra and his former S.O. John Garret, he could've had a better life, a life with her ... He could have had a family... But no he chose John Garret and why?... because of some stupid debt he felt he owed the man, a debt which amounted to nothing with what it had cost him. When he had been an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D he'd had the hope of a bright and beautiful future, but now he was locked away in a prison cell with no hope of rescue and no hope of a second chance, because he didn't deserve one. He'd spend the rest of his life in this miserable cell with only his broken memories, and thoughts of what could have been. Grant Ward lay down on his uncomfortable cot, turned over and silently cried himself to sleep.....

The nightmares came. They always did. There were various nightmares. Some were of Fitzsimmons not surviving the fatal drop into the ocean, others were of Garret succeeding in killing Coulson.

The first of tonight's nightmares(for he had many in one night) was one of the ones Ward considered to be the worst....

There he stood on some vacant street, debris and rubble all around him. He held a gun, at the other end of the street was Skye, to his left was Garret. He heard Garret's harsh command in his ears

Well what are you waiting for shoot her!" As if he were being controlled by some sadistic puppet master he lifted the gun and took aim. Skye with tears running down her face pleaded with him...

"Grant... Please stop... Don't do this..."

Ward felt the puppet strings pull at his trigger finger, no matter how much he tried to resist he could not pull against the strings that commanded him. The gun went off and Skye crumpled to the ground. Looking up Ward saw Garret laughing manically as he controlled the strings attached to Ward.With an evil grin he said "told you it be fun!" His laughter echoing in the empty streets....

Ward awoke in a cold sweat trembling and gasping for air. He knew he'd been crying because his face was wet. With a heavy sigh he rolled over and sat up drinking in his dark environment, he assumed it was evening, but there was no real way of knowing. Sighing again he got up. The cell he was in was small , not small enough to be too uncomfortable, but small enough that not much could be done. He began pacing up and down the length of the room. It really was the only thing he could do to occupy himself other then sleep.

He had been pacing for about five minutes when he heard

"Against the wall prisoner!"

This meant that the door was about to be opened, and if he attempted to escape he would recieve a painful shock from a taser. He pressed himself against the cold hard wall as one of the guards entered with a tray of food, followed by another guard that carried the taser, should Ward try and escape(not that he ever would, he deserved to rot in this cell.) but the guards didn't know that.

The first guard set the tray on the ground, turned and exited, the second watching Ward the whole time followed him out, turning his back at the very last second before slamming the door shut behind him. Ward got up and began eating the "food" on the tray, it tasted awful, but what right did he have to complain? Finishing his meal he returned to his cot, hoping the nightmares would not return, but he knew they would, they always did....

 


	2. Not your average night, Joe

Chapter 2

Not your average night, Joe

 

Joe was getting ready for bed. He showered, brushed his teeth and pulled on his pajamas. Joe lived alone, he didn't even have a dog or a cat to keep him company. He often felt lonely, but he was use to it. After turning the lights off he climbed into bed pulled the blankets around him and yawned knowing tomorrow would be another boring ,repetitive day.

He hadn't been lying in bed for very long when he heard something downstairs, brushing it off he tried going back to sleep. He heard more nosies, quietly and cautiously he got up out of bed and proceeded to the stairs.

He made his way quietly down the stairway, he'd seen enough horror movies to know it wasn't a good idea to shout out things like " who's there" or "I have a fill in the blank,and I'm not afraid to use it!" Shouting would only give away one's position to a potential murderer in the house and therefore said person would be at a disadvantage.

Joe reached to bottom of the stairs and paused to listen and see if he could locate the source of the noise. It seemed to coming from the kitchen, silently he picked up a candelabra sitting on a table close to him so he could knockout any potential intruder. (Hey, it worked in the movies didn't it?). Bracing himself he turned the corner, standing in the kitchen was a hooded figure, the figure was looking at pictures on the fridge. When the hooded figure heard Joe they turned around and lifted their head the hood was shadowing thier face all except for a a evil grin that began to spread across the face.

Joe raised the candelabra and charged the mysterious being in the middle of his kitchen. The figure calmly raised a hand, and with a flick of the wrist sent the candelabra flying, and it smashed against the wall. Joe stopped in his tracks, his eyes growing wide. The figure raised a hand again.

Joe felt the sensation of being lifted off the ground, and then he too was thrown against the wall. Instant pain went up his back he tried standing up , but the pain was just too much and fell down again. The hooded figure began approach Joe as he lay crumpled on the ground still wearing the evil smile. "P...pplease , don't hhhurt me..." Joe pleaded the figure just continued smiling and crouched down to be eye level with Joe.

The figure reached out a hand and placed it on Joe's shoulder. The pain Joe felt when he had smashed against the wall was nothing compared to the pain that coursed through him now. It was absolutely excruciating. He felt as if every cell was on fire. Not only was there pain, but there was an odd sensation as well. Joe almost felt as if the life were being drained out of him. He began too scream in pain, tears streaming down his face wishing this cruelty would end. The world began to fade before his eyes, becoming dimmer and dimmer until there was nothing but black.

The figure stood up looking over the body of their now dead victim and let out a small chuckle,muttering "fool". The figure then turned around stretching out a hand so the palm faced upward, with a snap of the fingers a fire ball appeared in the hand, the figure threw it against the wall. The fire began to grow, and began consuming the house. The figure turned and proceeded out the door in to the cool, crisp night leaving the burning building behind ....

 

 


	3. Interrogations and Psychologists

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mentions of abuse this chapter nothing graphic, but it is mentioned

Chapter 3

Interrogations and psychologists

Ward heard the slamming on the door, and a booming voice saying

"Time to get up prisoner!"

Sighing Ward got up from his bed, time to do all the chores prisoner had to do each day. When he had watched movies and tv Ward always found it pointless for prisoners to be doing such mundane things such as doing the laundry and serving food to their fellow prison mates, but now he felt differently.

Sure the chores were often mundane, and repetitive, but it was better then being stuck in a small cell all day with nothing to do. As the guards opened up the door, of course watching him the whole time should he try to escape. Ward made his way towards the laundry room, when he was stopped by a guard.

"Not, today prisoner, today you'll be going in for interrogation".

Ward let out a groan, he knew this day had been coming. He was completely willing to provide intel on Hydra(he was never loyal to them, only to Garret) however he wanted to give the information he had directly to Coulson. He didn't want the information to be delivered by a second party. Who knew how much the "messenger" would twist his words and make him seem like even more of a monster?

Ward also felt that if there was one good thing he could contribute in his miserable life, it was to directly provide Coulson with as much intel as possible, so he and the rest of the team could take down Hydra, and rebuild S.H.I.L.E.D. Hydra deserved to rot in a cell just like him, and he would gladly provide any information to help bring them to justice. If he told Coulson himself he would feel that he was assisting the team, helping them. Not that it would make up for all the horrible things he had done.

It would lift some of the unbearable weight that sat on his shoulders, knowing that S.H.I.E.L.D would be able to take down Hydra with the information he provided. He knew it was selfish to hope for relief from his wrong doings, he deserved to be punished, but that small relief would help him to cope better as he spent the rest of his life in a cell. Coming from another source however and not directly from himself just wouldn't create the same feeling. The "messenger "would be the one providing the intel, the ",messenger" would be seen as the one who assited the team in taking down Hydra ,and Ward would only be indirectly involved. He would get none of the credit, for as far as his former team members knew the guards were torturing him to receive intel, and he was only providing the intel to make the torture stop, and not because he wanted to help the team.

He wanted Coulson to know that he wanted to help the team.,That he was willing to provide information, that his heart wasn't completely black...

They finally arrived at the interrogation room and Ward's thoughts snapped back to reality as the walked in the door. Of course there was no Coulson, (it was highly likely he'd never see the team again). It was only some man he didn't know. The guards escorting him handcuffed him to the table and left the room, Ward silently waited for the questions and the torture to begin....

Ward was escorted back to his room battered and exhausted. He had been tortured just like he knew he would be. He would be beaten when he provided an answer that the interrogator did not particularly "like." He had given as much information as he could, Garret had not provided him with much despite the fact he was his second hand man. However the interrogator did not believe him and continued to push for more information. He would receive a beating each time he replied with "

"That's all I know I swear."

The interrogator would spit back " I know your lying you Hydra scum! Now tell me more!."

Eventually the interrogator had called off the beatings saying "That's enough for today, after all we don't want to kill him."

The guards then escorted him back to his cell. Where he collapsed on his bed. Ward had a high tolerance for pain, Garret had built him up to be that way... Showing signs of pain was a weakness in Garret's eyes, and Garret could not have weak soldiers. Still it didn't mean that Ward didn't flinch when he was struck.

It was the reason Ward did not like physical contact, because his whole life he had been physically hurt whenever someone raised a hand against him. His parents had beaten him, as did his older brother Christian, Garret and now the interrogator. The only time he had felt a gentle touch was from Skye... She had been the first one to.... No he couldn't think about her. He didn't deserve to think about her and her gentle touch, her lips against his...

Lost in his thoughts he suddenly heard  
  
"Against the wall!"

For a moment he was confused, he had just been out of interrogation and he knew it was no where near time for his next meal (surely they couldn't be pulling him into interrogation again?, (were they that cruel that they only provided their prisoners with a few minutes rest before throwing them back in?) The guard approached and escorted him out. As if the guard had read his mind he replied

"Your going to see a psychologist,someone you can talk to about your so called tragic past." The guard replied. He continued on by saying...

"I for one do not think you deserve it, scum like you do not deserve relief, but someone up in the higher ranks demanded it, wouldn't even provide a name just sent a note with the demands and the name of the psychologist." "The bottom of the note was simply singed with the initials N.F.", If you ask me" the guard continued, "There's something cowardly about a man who won't provide his name, but what do I know, I'm just a lowly prison guard."

Ward slowly tuned out the annoyed guard as he yammered on about hating his job... Eventually they reached a door...

The guard opened it and they stepped aside,

"Enjoy your visit you wretched scum!"

With that he turned and slammed the door behind him. Standing in the middle of the room was a women, she turned after the door was closed and said "

"Hello Grant I'm Doctor Collins......


	4. Let's Talk...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The psychologist in this chapter is loosely based on Dr. Bliss from the show "Hey Arnold!" in the episode "Helga on the couch"

Chapter 4 Let's Talk...

"Would you like to sit down?" Inquired Dr. Collins. Ward just stared at her, the silence stretched on for what seemed like forever.

Finally Ward asked "Why are you here?"

I was asked to come here Grant" Dr. Collins replied.

By who?" Ward questioned once again

I'm afraid that is the one question I can not answer." Replied Doctor Collins.

Ward pondered this for a while, wondering who on earth would pity him enough to hire a psychologist. (Everyone he knew absolutely hated him.)

He turned back to Dr. Collins, and asked

"So, you're here to ask me about my childhood, my life with Garret..."

If your comfortable talking about that, then yes." Replied Dr. Collins.

Ward looked at her in confusion. " The guard that brought me here said we were going to talk about my past."

Dr. Collins simply smiled before saying. "He is right in a way, we will be talking about your past, but it doesn't have to be toady."

"And why not?" Asked Ward, " I thought that was the point of these meetings."

Dr. Collins smiled again. "It is Grant, but i want my patients to be comfortable around me, I want them to tell me about their past and troubles because they want to, and not because they feel forced to." Finished Dr. Collins

. "Then what would we talk about?" Asked Ward. "

Whatever, you like" replied Dr. Collins. "Sometimes that's all a person needs is someone to talk to, even if it's about something mundane like the weather."

" Has this happened before?" Asked Ward.

Yes many of my patients have come in to simply talk, they say it makes them feel better knowing they have some sort of human communication. "

"So"said Ward "could I ask you some questions?"

By all means." She said. "Many of my patients, have found themselves more comfortable around me when they know a little bit about me and my past."

"But," she continued "Why don't you sit down and make yourself comfortable?, I promise no one is going to harm you, this is a positive environment."

Slowly Ward made his way over to the couch and sat down. Looking at Dr. Collins she was tall, with short black hair and brown eyes. Ward looked around the room. The walls were a warm brown color and the couches a light tan. A window stood on one of the walls,and natural light streamed in. The room had the faint smell of vanilla and lavender. The room was very comforting, and completely contrast from the harsh gray walls of the prison cell.

Ward turned his attention back to Dr. Collins. " Why did you become a psychologist." He asked.

That's a good question, Grant." She replied. "I became a Psychologist because I like to help people."

Why would you want to help someone like me?" Inquired Ward. "I'm worthless" "

Nobody worthless Grant." Said Dr. Collins. "

"I am" he said "if you knew about half the things I'd done..."

"I'm well aware of your past actions Grant." She stated.

"you read my file." He questioned.

Yes, I did,it's part of my job, I know it seems a bit cruel to read into a persons past, without their consent, but by reading about my patient's past it helps me to better understand what they are going through. "It helps me to know their troubles, so i can asses the best way to talk to them."

I guess that make sense." Said Ward. "But it still doesn't negate the fact that I have done horrible, awful things."

Everyone's made mistakes Grant, some worse then others, but still people make mistakes."

"It's like in the movie The Lion King." she continued, "you gotta put your past behind ya."

Ward looked at Dr. Collins in Surprise. "You're quoting the Lion King?"

"Oh!" Dr. Collins said as she smiled. "Forgive me, I use to be a child Psychologist, so I'm use to referencing Disney movies and other cartoons. "

"You were a Child psychologist?" Ward asked.

"I was" she replied. "I loved helping Children so much I decided to help adults as well."

The two continued to talk on. Most of the questions focused on Dr.Collins, which she assured Ward again and again was perfectly fine as she wanted him to be comfortable in her presence. Finally she looked up at the clock.

"Well the session is over."

The door opened as two guard stepped in, ready to escort Ward back to his cell. "It was nice meeting you Grant." Dr. Collins said as she stood up. "I look forward to talking to you again." With that the guards came and took Ward away, back to his cell. Sitting on his bed Ward thought perhaps today wasn't so bad...


	5. Another Night, Another Victim

Lilly loved life. Of course life hadn't always been so easy. She'd had a normal upbringing her parents were kind and loving. However kindness did not mean riches. Lilly had come from a poor family, while everyone else got gameboys for christmas, Lilly usually got a handmade doll.(not that she minded anyway, after all homemade things have a lot more value.) still like any young girl, Lilly dreamed of wanting more. Most days she daydreamed. More often then not her dreams would be about flying,

She would dream of soaring up to the beautiful blue sky, she would dream of touching the fluffy white clouds. She would dream of catching the different wind drifts, she would dream of flying with the birds. She would always dream of these things. She wanted to fly but she knew she could only dream it. That was until one day when everything changed....

She was a bit older around sixteen, she was admiring a flock of geese flying across the horizon at sunset. She closed her eyes thinking about how much she wanted to join those geese, and the next thing she knew she was in the air hovering. She thought surely it must be a dream, but it felt so real. Cautiously she tried moving, her body responded, thrilled Lilly took off in the direction of the geese. She was flying, actually flying! This had to be real, no dream ever felt like this. She flew and did loops and all manner of other tricks and she was happy....

Lilly had later learned that her parents also had "abilities." Her mom could run very fast and her father could move objects with his mind. They had refrained from telling her because they wanted to see if she too had any "ablities." The event brought the family closer and they began to spend more time together...  
  
Lilly was now older, old enough to live on her own at least. It was night time, she was flying of course. Flying at night was one of her favorite times to fly, she had the beautiful stars above her, and the quiet twinkling lights of the city below her. The night wind was cool and refreshing ... She soared over the park, and decided to stop for a rest, looking around to make sure there was no one who would see her she gently glided down and sat on a park bench.

She reminisced in the night. She could her the crickets and frogs singing their nightly song and could feel the soft breeze ruffle her hair she was in a blissful state...

Unfortunately that bliss did not last long, she soon got the feeling she was being watched. She whipped her head around to look behind her, but saw nothing. She turned back around and tried to concentrate on the beauty of the night... She heard the rustling of bushes and turned around again...

A hooded figure stepped out of the shadows and slowly advanced towards her. She knew she should take off into the sky where this mysterious being would not reach her, but she was frozen in fear. The figure approached and raised a hand. Lilly instantly felt her throat tighten. She began choking she grasped at her throat as if to try and pull at an invisible vise. All the while the figure continued to approach her. Finally the hooded figure arrived at the bench. The figure stretched out a hand and placed it on Lilly's shoulder. She felt intense pain, the worst she felt in her life. She felt as if her life was being drained from her...  
  
She struggled against the lack of air and the pain. Slowly the struggles became weaker and weaker until they stopped all together. The figure smiled to themselves as they looked at their fallen victim. Picking up the body the figure carried it to a ditch where the figure created a fireball in their hand and set the body ablaze... Not even dental records would be able to identify it now... Turning the figure took a deep breath and closed their eyes. With little effort the figure rose up i the air and took off into the starry night....


	6. What are you prepared to do?

Throughout the following days Ward continued to be asked for intel about Hydra, he gave information where he could,and tried to reason with the guards when he truly did not know any more information,(it didn't matter though, he was still tortured whether he provide intel or not.) he also continued to meet with Dr. Collins. Much like his first session with her the first couple of sessions involved simply talking, or asking Dr.Collins about her life.

One day however Dr. Collins said,

"You can ask me more questions Grant, but for every two questions you ask me, you must allow me to ask you one question."

Ward thought about that for a while and decided it was a fair trade off. That was the beginning of when the sessions started to become less about Dr. Collins, and more about Ward and his troubled past.  
  
He told her about his older brother Christian, and how cruel he was to him along with his other siblings. He told her about his unloving parents who didn't even lift a finger to help their younger children as they where tormented by their older brother. (His parents where abusive at times too.) As a kid Ward had always thought that was where his brother had gotten it from. Christian had been the first born child in the Ward family, and so his father was extremely proud of his first son as most fathers are.

Christian's father had taught him to never let anyone have power over him, to show everyone he was in charge,and that's just what Christian did, he established his dominance over his younger siblings, and if someone was to question that, he would beat them up or worse make them beat up each other.

Ward also told Dr. Collins about Thomas and the "Well incident." How Christian would not allow him to save Thomas despite his desperate cries for help. Christian threatened to throw him in if he tried to help him. Ward of course was scared and so he obeyed his brothers demands.

Ward told her about how he had tried to burn down his house, while his brother was inside(though he didn't know it at the time.)  
He turned to Dr. Collins and said  
  
"you must think i'm horrible, for doing that"

"Not at all Grant," she repliedWard looked at her in confusion.

"I feel sorry for you, no one should have to live in an abusive family." She said as looked at Ward.

" I don't deserve your sorrows, I don't deserve any ones sorrows." Ward replied

"I am not saying it makes up for the things you have done," she said. "But anyone who grows up in that kind of environment, deserves a bit of pity." She looked up at the clock "Well that's it for today, your making very good progress Grant." With that Ward was escorted back to his cell....

The next time he went in for his session, Dr. Collins was not there, however someone else was there, someone Ward recognized, but had never met in person....

"Director Fury?" He questioned as the door closed behind him.

Agent Fury if you please, Ward." He said if he turned around. "Now if you'll have a seat." He said indicating a chair. "

Where is Dr. Collins?" Ward asked.

"Her services are not needed for the time being." Fury said. "I am here to make you an offer."

And what offer is that?"

An opportunity." Fury replied.

"For what?"

Nick Fury leaned in and whispered "an opportunity to work with your old S.H.I.E.L.D team." He said leaning back in his chair.   
"  
Why would you offer me that, I don't deserve a second chance, not after what i did to them.." Ward said.

Perhaps not." Stated Fury "however desperate times, call for desperate measures." Fury said. "Also despite your former alliances, your skills are still a valuable asset, no one could deny that." Fury finished.

What would I do?" Questioned Ward.

"Whatever the new Director sees fit."Fury calmly replied.

"New director?", Who is the new..."

"That information is classified." Returned Fury. "So Ward, do you accept my offer.?"

Ward pondered the question for a while and realized he would do anything to try and right the wrongs he had done to his team. He did not expect forgiveness, or believe he deserved it, but if he could directly help them that would be enough...

"I would like to accept your offer."

"Good." Said Fury. "But it is not a guaranteed spot, the new director must approve and make the final decision." "I will tell them,, my thoughts however, they usually listen to me." Fury said as he smiled. as the guard came in to escort Ward away he asked "

"Sir, how do you know this is a good idea?" "

I don't" he replied, "but the psychologist idea, also had it's doubts, and look where it's landed you..." Fury simply smiled as they escorted Ward out the door.


	7. You're getting stronger

The hooded figure stood, in the darkened forest, looking up at the giant trees. They heard the sound of footsteps behind them.

"Took you long enough." The hooded figure said.

I had some.... Previous engagements, " replied the newcomer.

Engagements more important the me?..., Victor?" The hooded figure inquired. "

"Look" replied Victor, "I was doing research, for you, looking into a whisper of a rumor..."

"And what Rumor is that?" The hooded figure asked. "That the fridge has been infiltrated," Victor said with a smile. "The fridge?" Asked the hooded figure."the one run by S.h.i.e.l.d, where all those prisoners are kept, some of those prisoners with "ablities?"

"That would be the one." Replied Victor.

"How?" The figure inquired "the place isn't exactly easy to take down..."

"That's the other thing your going to love," said Victor "Turns out that terrorist group that Captain America fought back in the day, are still around."

"Hydra still exists?" Questioned the hooded figure.

"They have been hiding with in Shield, for centuries and they only recently came out of the shadows..."

"So Hydra broke into the fridge and set all the prisoners free?"

"Yes" replied Victor, "they also raided the place for weapons, It completely fell."

That would mean there are a bunch of psycho's running around free, and some with "abilities?" "The hooded figure asked.

"That is what i'm saying, it's practically an all you can eat buffet for your pleasure..."

The hooded figure smiled, "Just think of how powerful I will become, draining just one of those people of their "abilities" let alone all of them...."

"You have already gained more power since the last time I saw you.." Replied Victor. "You drain these psychos' and you'll be a force to be reckoned with..." Victor said staring at the hooded figure.

Yes, I certainly will be." The figure replied

"Oh and there's one more thing," said Victor. . "There is this ragtag team of Shield agents, trying to take down what's left of Hydra, and I think you will be particularly interested in one of it's members..."

And why would a be interested in some useless agent of shield..." The figure inquired.

Because, this particular agent has the "ability" You have been searching for your whole life," Victor heard the figure gasp.

"Victor,"the figure said "pack your bags, we are going on a long road trip, and we will be brining back a few souvenirs... 


	8. Do you deserve a second chance?

Ward sat in the middle of his cot. He was extremely nervous, which was extremely rare for the specialist. Today was the day he was meeting the new director of S.h.i.e.l.d. Today was the day, if he got he approval of this new director he would be placed back on the team... Though he doubted he would be allowed anywhere near them, he would just be thrown into another cell and consulted when the director needed him.  
He tried not to tremble as the guards escorted him to the now familiar room. The guard for once remained silent, not taunting him or calling him a worthless piece of scum. Finally they reached the door. They opened it, but they did not enter. They simply stood to the side. As if he had read his mind one of the guards said

"we don't have clearance to meet the the director, it's a need to know basis."

Slowly with the guards eyes on him the whole time he entered in to the room. Of all the people Ward was expecting he certainly did not expect the figure standing in front of him. "Coluson..." He breathed out in an almost inaudible whisper. His knees have out and he sank to the floor. He hadn't expected to come across one of his old teammates so soon especially not his former leader...  
"I see that they fixed your larynx well.." commented Coluson. "I was going to let you go a little longer without your voice, but Fury instead it be healed right away so you could provide intel."

Ward looked up at Coluson, "it's alright, you can speak Ward." Coulson said.

"You're the new director?" Ward questioned in a soft voice.

"Yes" replied Coluson.

But, why? and how?" Ward asked.

That is classified information and not why i am here Ward." Coluson stated. "I'm here to offer you a very small chance to help me and the rest of the team that you betrayed."

The word "betrayed" struck Ward like a knife, it was true he had betrayed the team, but it still hurt whenever someone mentioned it. Silence filled the room for a few moments, before Coluson said

do you believe you deserve a second chance?" Ward looked directly into his former team leaders eyes. "

No, sir, I deserve to rot in this jail cell, I even deserve a bullet to the brain."

Coulson looked at him in silence for a few minutes.  
"Looks looks you passed the first test." Coluson said. Ward remained where he was. "Tomorrow, someone will arrive to pick you up." Coulson continued. "You will the be transported via van to the playground." "Once there you will be escorted to a holding cell, equipped with cameras and microphones to monitor you 24/7." Coluson paused for a minute to let Ward take in all the information. "You will remain silent and speak to no one, during this transition, You will remain in the cell, unless otherwise authorized by myself and myself alone." "If you are needed, you listen to and obey my every order and demand, any disobedience or failure to follow my commands will result in punishment."  
Coluson crouched down, brining himself to Ward's level. "Just, because you are with us does not mean you are a member of the team, you are a consultant and nothing more, nor does this mean I or any of the rest of the team forgive you, it is highly likely we will never forgive you." "

I wouldn't expect you to." Replied Ward.

"Good, as long as you know that and keep your self in check we won't have a problem, and Ward, if I get even the smallest hint you are going to betray the team again, I will put the bullet in you myself..." He began walking towards the door. He reached it just as Ward asked,

"Sir, why even give me the chance, why not just end it now."

Coulson turned around his features softened as did his voice. "Because I believe you can save a person, If you get to them early enough." With that he turned around and left closing the door behind him...


	9. From one cell, to another

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please read and review, I love hearing what you guys think

The guards arrived early the next day. They roughly shoved a bag over Ward's head, and moved him along the empty corridor. He could hear the shouts of the other prisoners, some mocking others , pleading. He could hear the footfalls of himself and the two guards on the hard tile floor.

"You are lucky boy..." One of the guards hissed. "If it were up to me you'd be pushing up daisies."

Ward heard the opening of a door and light filter in through the bag, the sound of the tile floor changed to that of pavement. He felt himself hoisted up and roughly shoved into a van. The doors of the van slammed shut and the engine roared to life...  
  
The trip didn't seem to long, despite not knowing where he was going. The van eventually stuttered to a stop. The doors opened once more and Ward was roughly shoved out. He was then escorted, soon he heard the opening of a door and the sound of tiles under his feet. He assumed this was the place that Coluson had called the playground. The guard soon entered another room where he was shoved into. The bag was finally pulled off his head. He was in a cell once, more this one was much bigger then his previous cell, and in the middle stood Coluson. He turned around when ward entered the room.

"Welcome Ward." He simply stated. "Do you remember what I told you the other day?" Coluson said with his arms crossed as he stared at his former agent turned traitor. "

I am to stay on my cell, which will be monitored 24/7, " said Ward. "

"Good."replied Coulson. "What else"

"If you have need of me, I am to do and say exactly as I am told, any disobedience will earn me punishment." finished Ward.

"Very good." Said Coulson. "I'll send someone down with lunch in an hour." With that Coluson turned and left. The thought of lunch made Ward sick to his stomach, he didn't know if he was ready to face ant of his former teammates especially not _her_. It wasn't that he didn't want to see them(he really wanted to see them, to know they were okay, especially poor Fitz.) it was because he didn't think he could face them after all the pain and sorrow he caused them. (He had barley been able to face Coluson the other day.) he dreaded the passing of the next hour....

Finally the hour had passed, and Ward could hear footsteps outside his cell. He began to tremble as he heard the door unlock and swing open.... Ward let out a very small and quiet sigh of relief, the person with the tray was agent Trip. Of all the members on the team Trip was the one who had been the least effected by Ward's betrayal, seeing as he hadn't been with the team as long. Trip set the tray of food down on the table. He then looked at Ward.

"This doesn't mean I trust you," he said. "I was just the only one willing to be the messenger boy."

There was no spite in Trip's voice, like Ward had expected. Trip just remained cool and calm. Ward remembered that Trip had also trained with Garret, his calm demeanor in stressful situations had earned him what little praise Garret could offer. Trip walked to the door "

"Enjoy your lunch, Ward." Trip said before he left. Again there was no spite in the man's voice as he left the room closing the door behind him.

Ward moved over to the table where the tray had been set. It was a sandwich and a glass of water. He tried to eat, but only managed a few bites, he was still sick to his stomach. Though he didn't think Trip had intended it, his words hurt... "I was the only one willing to be the messenger boy...." That meant that none of his former teammates hadn't even wanted to see him. (He knew they wouldn't want to see him but it still hurt.) perhaps it was better this way, after all hadn't he been dreading any of his other teammates coming to deliver his lunch? What if it had been May.... Or Simmons........ Or ....... Or ....Skye. How would he have reacted? Would he have been able to hold, himself together? Or would he have broken down and proven that he was weak, just like Skye said he was back at Cybertek? Skye... His thoughts began to drift back to her as they often did, when he sat alone in his cell... Of her smile, ...her laughter, ...her hair blowing in the wind... No, he had to stop thinking about her, he didn't deserve to think about her, she was so good, so pure... And he was a monster. Settling on to his bed he drifted off to sleep where he knew the nightmares would begin once more....

 


	10. Finally Free

Tim was free. He was finally free. He had been trapped in the fridge for so long. The agency known as S.h.i.e.l.d had put him there. He had always hoped for freedom, but knew it was very likely he would never get it... Then a wonderful glorious thing had happened... From what Tim could gather the organization known as Hydra had infiltrated Shield, and had then proceeded to take over and release all those trapped in the fridge... and some stuff had happened after that and Hydra had lost some big runners. But what did Tim care? He wasn't loyal to Hydra, he didn't even know they still existed, all that mattered was that he was free once more......

He was free to get back to what he loved the most scaring people with his "ability" he didn't know why Shield had locked him up , he didn't see any harm in his "ability." Shield however felt differently, oh well once a freak, always a freak. His thoughts turned to to the young women walking down the street, he was obscured from her view, what a perfect opportunity, he thought. With a simple flick of the wrist a patch of ice appeared in a few feet in front of the girl, she was looking down at her phone so she did not notice.... She slipped and fell down landing hard on her tail bone she dropped her phone and let out a groan of pain.... She stood up, rubbing her back side. She started making her way towards the dropped phone...

Tim knew this was his chance to attack, with another flick of the wrist it began to snow. He moved his hand in a circular motion, the snow began to spin faster and faster until it was a blizzard... He could hear the women's confused cries. He slowly approached. She had her back to him, but upon hearing his boot steps she spun around "

"What's going on!?" She questioned.

Tim didn't answer, he simply continued to move forward. "

Please" she begged. "Don't hurt me..."

Tim smiled at the women. "Now what fun would that be?" He was within inches of her. The women's eyes grew wide and she turned to run... Only she couldn't it was like she was frozen, or rather or feet were frozen...  
  
She looked down to see her feet incased in ice..., no this had to be a dream this was impossible... Tim just kept smiling as the ice started to slowly creep up the women's legs. She looked at him with pleading eyes, "please help me"she begged. "

But the fun's just getting started..." Replied Tim

The ice had reached her knees, it was beginning to move faster, "please, stop"she said tears beginning to form. Tim simply stared at her. The ice had completely covered her legs and was continuing upward. "My family..." she said. "They will miss me..""

Not my concern sweetheart..." Tim said as the ice reached her waist, the women was crying now.

Please i will do anything, give you anything, just let me go.."

"No can do sweetheart," said Tim without remorse, the ice had reached her ribs,... Her shoulders, it began going up her neck... "Please...." She said desperation in her voice. Tim simply smiled. She continued to sob and beg until the ice had completely consumed her. Then there was silence. Tim flicked his hand and the blizzard stopped it was just him and the frozen women who looked like a statue. He rose his had up and brought it down the "ice women" shattered in to a million pieces. Tim stopped for a moment to admire his work.

"Not bad" he heard a voice.

He looked around frantically. Had someone seen what he had done? He looked up and saw a figure standing on a low branch of a tree. They jumped down, the figured was wearing a cloak, with the hood pulled up. The hooded figure slowly began to approach

" Stay back" said Tim "I am warning you...."

The figure whose face was shadowed by the hood apart from the mouth smiled and continued walking forward.. Tim raised his hand to create a snow storm once more.... bit nothing happened, he began to panic, he tried again to no avail... The hooded figure continued to approach. They reached out their hand and placed it on Tim's shoulder, excruciating pain filled tim's body and he screamed. "

"What are you?" He said through shaky breaths the hooded figure did not reply.

Tim continued to scream, the screams started to get softer and softer until they stopped all together.... The figure let the body fall to the ground and stood up. Then using their new found ability froze the body and the shattered it into a million pieces, like they had seen the hunter turned hunted do a few minutes before... They turned and took off into the sky. They were definitely getting stronger.... 


	11. A new, but familiar visitor

It had been an entire week since Ward had come back to the team, and nothing much had happened. It was always the same routine every day. Ward would stay in his cell and someone(usually Trip but occasionally Coulson) would bring him his meals. It wasn't much different from his time in prison. While he had been here, the rest of the team had not visited him yet. He didn't think they would. He was completely isolated and alone. Of course isolation wasn't new to Ward, he had been abandoned by Garret in the woods for six months, and he was use to working alone before he had met the team...

What bothered Ward was the silence, at least while he was in prison he could here the other prisoners and the guards talking, but here in his cell at the playground, it was completely silent. The cell he had been placed in was far away from where the rest of the team worked, in fact it was faraway from everything. The silence proved hard to deal with. He had no idea what was going on, no voices, no shuffling of feet, no beeping machines not even the sound of a clock. Ward would often wonder if he was even in the place Coluson had called the Playground, it often felt like he was in a completely different place then then the team. Perhaps Coulson had placed him somewhere completely different for fear of how the team would react knowing he was in the same building as them. His answer came the following day....

It was morning, time for Ward to eat breakfast, but today instead of it being Trip or Coulson who brought the food it was..... May. The last time Ward had seen May was when he had fought her, leading to his foot being nailed to the floor and his larynx being fractured. To say that he was happy to see her would be a lie it filled him with dread as well as sadness and remorse. However a small part of him was relieved to finally see another member of the team. She set the tray down. For a long time neither of them said anything, May remaining just as stoic as Ward remembered her.

Finally she broke the silence. 

"Still sore from our little fight Ward?"

For a moment Ward thought about not answering her, but decoded better of it. 

"My foot still hurts from time to time and I still have some bruises that are healing." He said and he could have sworn he saw a small smile dance across May's usually stern face. Silence filled the room once more. May broke the silence again. 

"Coulson seems to think, you would be useful to the team." She crossed her arms as she said this. 

"And what do you think?" Asked Ward. 

"I think you deserve to rot in a cell, and never see the light of day." She paused for a moment to let the words sink in. "But, I respect Coulson and his decisions, so as much as I disagree with this arrangement, I am just going to have to deal with it."

Her words had surprised Ward, not the words of hatred he had expected those, but the last time he remembered that May and Coluson weren't exactly on good terms with each other. He supposed something must have happened to rekindle there trust in one another. May spoke once more "

"Don't think that this means, you will eventually come back and be a part of the team, your as crazy as Garret of you believe that." Ward flinched at the mention of his former S.O.

"I wasn't expecting to be let back on the..."

"Good" said May cutting him off. "Nor does this mean I trust, you, if you even think about betraying the team again, or hurting any of them, what I did to you in the warehouse will look like child's play." She said as she glared at him.

"I neither expect nor deserve your trust agent May." Ward said as he looked at the ground. May then turned to leave, but before she left she punched Ward hard on the shoulder.

"That's for hurting my team."

With that she left the room slamming the door behind her, and Ward was left alone to eat his now cold breakfast....


	12. The unexpected visitor

May, started to come more often after that first visit. She didn't come as often as Trip or Coulson, but she would come. She would bring his meals, when she came she would often punch or hit him, she didn't do it every time, but she did it more often then not.

One day Ward got a very unexpected visitor, it wasn't Trip, Coluson or May ,but it was Simmons. Sweet little Jemma Simmons. She looked different then Ward remembered. Dark circles were under her eyes, evidence that she had 't been getting a lot of sleep lately. There was also a profound sadness around her that seemed to permeate the air. She held her arms crossed against her chest, her hair was disheveled, not in it's usual ponytail. She kept her head down as she entered the cell. She sat down, and when she looked up, Ward saw fear in her eyes, fear that could only be attributed to him.

"Hello, Ward," she said in a very quiet voice. Silence filled the room.

"Hello, simm... I mean Agent Simmons" replied Ward. Silence once again filled the room. He heard Simmons begin to snuffle, he wanted to ask her of she was alright, but he knew it wasn't his place. There was also another question he was desperate to ask, one that had plagued his mind, ever since his arrest....

As if she could read his mind she replied "f-Fitz...is a-alive, but he's in a coma, I-i don't know if he will recover"

Ward could feel tears at the corner of his eyes, so fitz was still in crtical condition? And it was all because of him. He had dropped Fitzsimmons into the ocean, and Fitz had risked his life to save Simmons. Fitz was a lot braver then Ward, and completely selfless, he was much better then Ward, Fitz..... Was a good man.

"Oh Jemma, I'm so ..." Ward started

"Save it!" Simmons cut him off, a sudden hostility in her voice that Ward had never heard before from the usually sweet biochemist. "I didn't come here for your apologies, what you did to me, to..... Fitz, I... I don't think i will ever be able to..... She began to cry once more

"I don't expect your forgivness" said Ward, but he didn't even know is she heard him as sobs wracked her body, after a while she seemed to compose herself, silence filled the room before in a shaky voice she said

"He believed in you until the very end, even when the rest of us had all lost hope and accepted the truth, he still... " once again tears began to slide down her face.

Ward felt horrible, watching the usually optimistic scientist so sad and ruined, once again because of him, he had caused the little team to fall apart. She stood once again wrapping her arms around herself. She made her way to the door.

"It was supposed to float" ward choked out.

"I know" said Simmons so quietly he almost missed it. Then she continued out the door. Ward fell on to his bed, trying to hold back the tears...

A little while later Trip came with his lunch, he quietly set it down. Ward remained quiet.

"Brought you a book" said Trip. Ward looked over to see Trip holding a book.

"Why would you bring me a book?" Asked Ward.

"You need something to do." Trip replied.

Ward took the book out of Trip's hand. It was called "The once and future king"

"Thank you, agent Trip" said Ward.

"Oh, he does have manners!" Said Trip with a smile. He got up to leave, "Oh and if you even think about, betraying the team again, once Coluson has need of you, I'll kindly make sure your next on death row..." With that he left Ward alone with his book.


	13. I Don't hate you....

It had been a few day since Simmons visit. She never came back, he continued to be visited by Coluson, Trip and on occasion May. The only ones who hadn't visited him were Fitz, who he presumed was still in a coma and of course _she_ had not visited him yet. He didn't expect her to. Still he hoped everyday that she would come. Even if it was for the last time, seeing her one last time would be enough... She came a few days later....

He could hear her soft footsteps echoing down the hallway, the typing of the keys on the lock pad. The door finally swung open... She was different then the last time he saw her, her hair was shorter and she had bangs. The light in her eyes had seemed to have dimmed and been replaced with a fierceness(one that reminded ward of May he wondered if May had taken over her training) She glared at him her arms crossed. She paced back and forth, before sitting down...

"Skye".... Ward finally managed to croak out.

"Ward" she said, her voice giving nothing away. Silence filled the room. Finally after what seemed like eternity she spoke.

"Why?" She asked.

"Why what?" He replied.

" you know damn well what." She said with anger in her voice.

He sighed I had my reasons at the time..."

"Oh don't give me that excuse!" She said her voice rising in anger and volume.

"Garret pulled me out of a bad situation, I felt like I owed him my life." He replied.

"So you weren't lying about your family life, thats just great," she said with bitterness in her tone, "one truth among thousands of lies" silence once again filled the room.

"I saw him as a father- figure," Ward continued. "It wasn't until too late that I realized he was only in it for himself."

"Oh, and what gave you that idea when he had Mike attack you and almost kill you?" She said  
"Or maybe it was when he went insane with power?"

Ward flinched at her words. "I think I realized it before then, I just refused to accept it..."

"And why was that?" She questioned.

"Because I believed in him, had faith that he really did care about me as more then one of his trainees, that he viewed me as a son.." Ward said. "I put my faith in the wrong man."

"Damn right you did." Skye said.

"Skye, I'm..."

"Don't" she cut him off "just don't.... do you have any idea what you have done to the team?!"

Ward remained silent waiting for her to continue

"Fitz, is in a coma, one he might not come out of and even if he does he won't be the same, Simmions is a complete wreck she hardly ever leaves Fitz side, she eats little and sleeps even less. Iv'e lost count of how many times shes had an emotional break down." "May's become recluse again, Coulson hardly trusts anyone, And I had my heart broken..."

"Skye, " he started "I never meant to hur.."

"To hurt me," she said "but you did, you hurt me" he could see tears forming at the corners of her eyes as silence filled the room.

"Did they torture you?" She asked after awhile as she turned her back to him.

Her question caught him off guard. He hadn't expected it. "Yes" he replied. "They did, but nothing compares to the torture of knowing that the team hates me... That you hate me, and that's something I will have to live with the rest of my life..."  
"  
I don't hate you" she said.

"What?" He replied.

"I feel betrayed, angry, sad , heartbroken, and I don't think I will be able to forgive you for what you have done..."

"But,I don't hate you, I Don't think I could ever hate you..."

And with that she left slamming the door shut behind her, leaving a very confused Ward sitting on the bed...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave reviews , reviews are my muse


	14. That's what they used to call me

Night had fallen and the hooded figure stood outside the darkened house,unlike previous victims the hooded figure knew exactly who lived here. The hooded figure smiled, years of waiting for this exact moment had finally come. Slowly and gracefully they approached the front door. The figure stood for a moment on the porch before reaching a hand out to knock....

A few minutes later the door was answered by a pretty, young women. The hooded figure smiled and said

"Hello Emily!"

The women's eyes widened in shock and terror.

"No! Not you! Any one but you!" She turned and ran up the stairs, the hooded figure close behind her,

"You can't run Emily !" "There's no escaping me this time!"

The figure heard Emily run to a room and slam the door shut, the turning of a lock was heard. The figure simply smiled once more with a flick of the hand the door came flying off it's hinges and flew into the hallway. Emily screamed as she huddled in the corner.

"Stay away from me!" Emily shouted as she raised her hand and lightning shot out from her fingertips.

The hooded figure had expected this and merely stepped to the side, approaching emily slowly.

"You knew this day would come emily, it was inevitable!"

Emily began to cry "please don't ... Please Veronica, don't do this..."

The hooded figure paused for a moment it had been a while since she had heard her name.

"Yes, that's what people use to call me Veronica, Veronica Bishop"

"Veronica, " said emily "I beg you don't do this, we're sisters..."

Veronica smiled. "All the more reason to do it, my beloved sister...." She reached her hand out and placed it on Emily's shoulder, emily's screams filled the house, it was awhile before it grew completely silent. Veronica had forgotten how strong her sister was....

Standing up she looked at the body of her sister silent and still, she gave a quick nod of the head and then turned around. She walked out into the cool night air... She sent a bolt of electricity towards a phone pole, the box at the top exploded and the wires frazzled and the towns lights went out as Veronica slowly walked away.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credit for the villain's name goes to NikiD3195 at ff.net


	15. No more tears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was based on a suggestion of a friend on ff.net, please read and review!

Skye had barley made it out the door and down the hallway, before sliding down against the wall and putting her her head against her knees. The hacker began to shake with sobs. She had told herself months ago, that she would no longer shed any tears for Grant Ward, He didn't deserve it, she couldn't let him win. Walking into that room,she had thought she would be able to control herself, that she would finally be able to find closure, but as soon as she had stepped in that door... All of her emotions and memories had come rushing back, causing her to relive the heartbreak that she had suffered. It wasn't only the memories and raw emotions that had effected her, his appearance and demeanor had caught her off guard to....

He had a beard now, and he was skinnier it was obvious he had not been eating well, signs of physical abuse were present too(she supposed they were from his days in prison,when the guards had asked him for intel on Hydra) his eyes were full of sorrow and desperation. He looked like a lost little boy. And so she responded in the only way she knew would keep her from crying, she certainly was not going to cry in front of him, so she lashed out in anger in order to suppress all of her other emotions that threatened to spill over. She ranted, letting him know exactly all the pain he had put the team through, all the pain he had put her through... He had been so hurt by her harsh words and in a way that made her feel satisfied(but deep down, some selfish part of her had felt bad about it, felt bad that she was making him suffer even more.) she had almost made it, and then he had made the comment about her hating him....

After all he had done she should hate him, it would be so easy to tell him that he was right that she hated every fiber of his being, but she just couldn't do it, because what she had said was true she did not hate him at least not entirely. Oh she was mad at him mad beyond belief, she had lost her trust in him a long time ago, and forgiving him? Well that was just out of the question. But no matter how hard she tried she could not bring her self to hate him, she wanted to say she did not know why, but she would be lying to herself, she knew it was because that that deep deep down she still had hope, still had hope that at least some of it was real, deep deep down she still had hope that he was or at least could be a good man... And a small selfish part of her, however small that part might be still loved him, though she would deny it if any one ever asked her, she even denied it to herself....

She heard footsteps coming down the hall, she didn't bother to look up, the footsteps paused when they reached her and she heard a tray set on the ground, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright? Baby girl?"

She looked up to see Trip who was bringing down lunch. There was concern in his voice. Trip was often the person Skye would go to, when she was having a hard time, her usual go-to Simmons hardly ever left Fitz's side, and she had her own emotions to deal with, May had once again become recluse, and the only time they interacted was during training sessions, Coulson had been busy lately with trying to reorganize shield as the new director, that had left her with Tripp, who she had quickly come to befriend, he always provided a listening ear and gave her comfort...

She looked at him and said "I will be, eventually."

"Why don't you go get some rest, you could use some alone time," he replied with a small smile.

"I will, thank you" she said as he helped her up to her feet, and pulled her into a hug.

"You know it's not wrong to feel emotion, to feel sorry, it's what makes us human." Trip said.

"I know" she replied. Silence settled between them. Finally she began walking down the hall again and toward her room. Trip watched as she left sighing he picked up the tray and proceeded in to the room she had just left behind.....  



	16. I feel sorry for you

It had been a week since she had visited, and her words still rang in his head. "I don't hate you..." He had thought at first that this was a lie, something Coulson told her to say, after all he had said his torture would be internal... But he thought about it, and a small selfish part of it told him it was true. She didn't hate him... She was far from liking him that much was clear, but still a strong dislike for him was better then pure hatred. And that thought gave grant a very small speck of happiness, not enough to drive away all the pain, but it made it a little more bearable... The visit had also hurt him in a way, he had been grateful to see her, but it hadn't been long, it was so short only a few minutes, he knew he was being selfish and greedy wanting to spend more time with her(he should be thankful for the time he got and he was...), but there was so much he wanted to tell her, he wanted to tell her about her father, or at least what he had learned from Raina he wanted to tell her sorry over and over again, and most importantly he wanted to tell her that she was beautiful, that he loved her.... He was so lost in his thoughts that he almost didn't hear the door open...

He looked up, at first he thought it was just Simmons, he was surprised, that she was visiting him again...but then following right after her was Fitz, Fitz... He must have come out of the comma. The both sat down in chairs. Fitz looked at him for a moment before saying

"H-hello, W-w-ward" "I came to, I came to..." He stopped for a moment as if struggling to know what to say. "I came to..."

"Talk to you"finished Simmons looking down at the floor.

"Yes to do that" he said

"Go ahead," said Ward "tell me how much you despise me..."

"B-but i don't, des, despi... , i don't desp...

"Despise you" finished Simmons,

"Yes thank you Simmons" Fitz said.

"You should despise me, after what i did to you, what i did to the team" replied ward.  
"Lo-look im not saying wha-what you did is r-r-ight, not by a long, not by a long...

"Shot" came Simmons voice as she continued to stare at the ground.

"R-right" said Fitz "but I-I-I feel...

"What, what do you feel Fitz?" asked Ward.

"I f-feel so-sorry, for, for you..."

At that Simmons looked up and said "okay thats enough, for today.." Standing up and trying to pull Fitz with her,

"But i'm n-not done tal..talk.. Talking to him yet, Jem..." He said.

"Well i'm a doctor." She replied and I say that's enough for today, you need to get your rest and take your medicine.."

"But" he protested

"No buts,mr that is a doctors order." She said as she rushed him out of the room.

The door clanged behind them. ward was takin aback, did Fitz really feel sorry for him? And why had Simmons rushed him out of the room when he said that? These and many other questions plagued, his mind as he fell into a troubled sleep....


	17. You won't like me when I am angry

Veronica continued to hunt down and gain powers, some were innocent good people, others were escape prisoners from the fridge. With each new power she collected she continued to get stronger,and she would need to be strong when she went to collect her ultimate prize, the power she had sought for for so long.... She stood quietly on a dock of a lake where she had just thrown the body of her most recent victim(a man with the ability to teleport), when she heard footsteps behind her...

"Back again are we Victor?" She inquired.

"Yes" Victor replied "and there's something you should know..."

"And what is that?" She inquired.

"Do you remember that Shield agent i told you about? The one with the "ability" you have always wanted?"

"Yes" said Veronica, unsure of where he was going with this

"Well it's a bad idea to go after..."

"Why would you deny me what i have always wanted?" Veronica said cutting him off.

"It's not that," he said " it's just..."

"What could possibly keep me from obtaining what I seek?" She said her anger rising. "You think I can be stopped by a few agents of Shield?, by this ragtag team as you called it?" "Killing the rest of the team will be easy, with all the power I have obtained!"

"It's not that." Said Victor. "It's just your not the only one looking for...

"I will stop anyone who stands in my way." She said cutting him off once more

"But you don't understand," he said "going up against this other..... person, would be a huge mistake..."

"I can handle myself I'm only getting stronger, i'm sure I can take this other person out before my prize taken from me.." She replied.

"Please listen to me, " Victor said "you don't know who your going up against, it would be foolish too.."

"Enough" came the harsh reply from Veronica. "Oh Victor, I was beginning to like you, why did you have to go and upset me?" She asked her tone turning menacing as she slowly approached Victor

Victor's eyes widened in fear "no... No i have only ever been loyal to you, only ever helped you.."

"Oh, Victor" Veronica said smiling "I had always planned on killing you, I had just planned to do it a little bit later down the road, but seeing as you have upset me.." She said as she got ever closer

"Why, why would you kill me? He asked trying to keep his voice from trembling, "I have only ever helped you..."

"Well, let's just say I can't risk having a liability, besides I work best alone..." And with that she stretched out her hand and placed on Victor's shoulder, his screams of agony filled the night, after disposing of the body she continued on her way. She did not pay any regard to Victor's words she knew she would be able to defeat anybody she came across because absolutely NOONE was going to stand in her way when it came to collecting her prize...


	18. Trojan Horse

Ward was woken up by Trip the next morning.

"Well looks like we need you out in the field today, guess you got lucky." Trip said as he slowly approached Ward. "Coulson should be here in a few minutes with your tracking bracelet..."

"Tracking bracelet?" Asked Ward

"Well , we can't exactly trust you in the field all by yourself yet." Trip replied calmly.

The door swung open and Coulson followed by May entered he was carrying a black box. Slowly and carefully they along with Tripp approached Ward. The barrier was lowered and May and Trip stood on either side of him icers raised ready to shoot should he try and escape. Coulson opened the black box and took out a bracelet similar to the one Skye had worn all those months ago when she had betrayed the team to be with Miles.

"You are to stay by me at all times," said Coulson as he placed the bracelet around Ward's wrist. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir" replied Ward

"Good." Said Coulson "and let me make one thing clear, just because you are assisting us does not make you a member of the team, you are merely an asset and nothing more."

"I understand sir." Said Ward.

Nodding Coulson turned around. "Let's go." They proceeded down the hallway, May and Trip still flanking either side of Ward. They approached the plane that would take them to their destination. Skye, Fitz , and Simmons were there along with some faces Ward did not recognize.

Coulson paused for a moment before addressing the team. "Our current mission is taking down a Hydra cell and collect any information we can on their plans, as well as list of people they are after gifted or not." Trip, Hunter your job is to take out the guards outside.

"Oh, come on!" Replied one of the men who Ward did not recognize, he had a thick english accent "don't tell me your paring with a guy who has it out for me...!"

"Well you did shoot him with an icer." Said Coulson "and if you want to keep working for me Hunter I suggest you listen I am director after all.."

"Fine" Hunter grumbled still clearly upset he had to work with Trip.

"Oh and Trip.." Said Coulson "if he steps out of line again you have my permission to do as you see fit."

"Don't worry sir." Replied Tripp "I'll make sure he behaves,and he'll be sorry if he doesn't"

Coulson turned his attention back to the rest of the team "myself and Ward will proceed into the building first, eliminating any instant threats and clearing the way.." May, Skye you'll follow in afterwards and proceed to the tech lab, where Skye will attempt to download any files we can find..."   
  
Ward's eyes briefly drifted over to Skye at the mention of her name, but the fell back to the floor as May gave him what could only be described as a death glare.

"Fitz, Simmons and Mack." Coulson said turning to the two scientists and the other man ward did not recognize. You'll stay here and keep a monitor on all things, keeping a close eye on all the exits, as well as if any back up parties show up, if anything seems suspicious report it to myself, or May immediately." "Can I get a copy?"

"Copy, sir" they all replied.

"All right let's move out." Said Coulson. The doors to the plane opened and they all headed their separate ways. Ward stayed close by Coulson. The base seemed to be empty as they approached the building.

"Trip, Hunter give me a status update" Coulson said in to his com

"There's no one here" replied Trip "it's almost eerie like..."

"No outside guards?" Questioned Coulson "that seems suspicious..." "Alert to all teams" he said "proceed with extreme caution." As the building got closer and closer Ward noticed a large "J" painted on the side of the building followed by the numbers 254. His eyes widened in disbelief, before he turned to Coluson.

"Permission to speak sir" he said. Hoping Coulson would hear the urgency in his voice.

"Permission granted." Said Coulson. "What is it Ward?"

"This Hydra cell it's a fake." Replied Ward.

  
"What do you mean?" asked Coulson

"Well, Hydra created several fake bases, like this one, a trojan horse if you will." Ward said

"Continue," Coulson said

"They created them just for this purpose, so while the trained team went in expecting a fight, they could a sneak back to the base and..."

"And attack those people left unprotected..." Finished Coulson with a groan. "They've gone back to the plane where fitz, simmons and mack are..." He looked back at his com "all teams abort mission, i repeat abort mission and head back to the bus, the site is a decoy..." Coulson and ward began racing back to the plane.

"How did you know it was a fake base?" Coulson asked as they race back.

"The lettering on the side of the building." Replied Ward. "It's a code to other Hydra members."  
  
They finally approached the plane, where they were met by the other teams.

"Coulson, what's going on ?" Asked May.

"No time to explain." Replied Coulson the others are in danger...

They burst through the door to find Fitzsimmons and Mack huddled in the corner as ten men surrounded them, all of the pointing guns.

One of the men upon hearing the approach of the team said

"Not another step or we fire." He said before turning around, his eyes landed on ward and he froze

"Ward?", "but they told us you had been captured, why are you working for them?"

The team took his momentary distraction to attack the rest of the men. Ward leapt forward and began attacking the man who had addressed him(Coulson had not provided him with a weapon, as he did not trust him nor would his new bracelet allow him to fire a weapon.) so he had to rely on fist to fist... Soon he along with the other men were on the ground.

Coulson turned to the three that stood in the corner

"Are you alright, are any of you hurt?" He inquired.

"We're all fine." Replied Mack just a little shaken up he said as he looked a Fitz who was crouched down and cowering. Simmons was trying to comfort him

Mack turned his attention back to Fitz

"It's alright man, it's all over you can get up now..."

Slowly but surely Fitz stood up.

What happened next, happened so fast it was all a blur, out of the corner of his eye Ward saw the leader of the group weakly raised his hand from where he was on the ground and point his gun at Fitz, steadily taking aim.

"No!" He shouted as he leapt forward to push Fitz out of the way as the shot rang out., he heard several people call out his name as he lurched forward knocking the young scientist to safety, he felt a searing pain in his chest and then as he tumbled to the ground his world went black....


	19. Why did you save me?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big thank you to Cassandra S Fisher who is my beta reader for this and all future chapters of this story, also thank you to bmbb for leaving the first comment and thanks for all the kudos, please leave more comments , I love reading them!

Ward heard the beeping of monitors, and sense someone at his side. He also felt an immense pain in his chest, slowly he opened his eyes to the bright light. After a few moments his vision became clear, he was in the medbay lying on a bed shirtless and he could see Simmons working over him.

"Well look who's awake." Simmons said. She began removing bandages from around his chest.

"Jemma?"

"I would prefer it of you called me Simmons."

"What...what happened " Ward inquired.

"After the bullet hit you, you passed out due to blood loss. We brought you here. You’re extremely lucky by the way, the bullet was an inch from your heart."

"You pulled the bullet out?"

"Yes."

A silence settled in the room.

"Why did you even bother trying to save me?"

"I am nothing to any of you, why not just let me die?"

"That's not who we are,"

"Oh we're still mad at you, and have by no means forgiven you or forgotten what you have done, but we're not heartless" she continued.

Silence once again settled in the room.

The silence was interrupted by Mack who entered the room. He looked over in Ward's direction and noticed he was awake. Mack turned towards Simmons.

"You should let Fitz come by now since he's awake. He's been asking ever since you brought, him here." Mack said as he pointed a thumb at Ward.

"I don't think that's a very good idea."

"Jemma, he took a bullet for him, I think we can at least allow him to see he's okay."

"Oh alright, go and get him...," Simmons said reluctantly. “I'll wait outside."

A few moments later Simmons heard Mack leave the room. She started to leave as well, she was a few feet from the door when his voice caught her attention.

"Thank you Simmons, for bringing me here and looking after me. I know I can never make up for what I've done to you and Fitz. I know you'll never forget all the other horrible things I have done."

"You are right," Simmons started, as she looked over at him. "I won't forget all the things you have done. I also won't forget you risked your life for Fitz."

Simmons turned back around and left the room. A little while later Mack came back accompanied by none other than Fitz. They both entered the room slowly. Mack then turned to Fitz

"I'll leave you two alone, but I will be close by if you need anything, okay Fitz?"

"Okay." Fitz replied. Mack left the room.

"How are you?" Fitz asked.

"Don't ask me that Fitz." Ward replied. "I don't deserve that."

"You were shot Ward, I think it's perfectly fine, to ask, to ask how you are doing."

Ward noticed Fitz was still struggling to form sentences, but he seemed to have improved since their last encounter.

"I guess I am fine..." Ward said as he trailed off.

Silence once again hung in the air.

"Why did you do it?" Fitz said finally breaking the silence.

" _Because it's a weakness,"_  ..... He looked at Fitz. "I couldn't see you die. I had already gone through thinking you were dead once, and I just couldn't go through it again. I know that's selfish, but..."

"No. It's not selfish.You, know, I believed in you right to - right to the very end, and perhaps even after you dropped us into the ocean."

"Why?” Ward questioned him. "Everyone one else thought I was evil..."

"I believe evil is not born, it's made... I truly believe you're not evil, at least not entirely,” Fitz said as he got up. "I have to go, they will start to worry if I stay here too long.”

Fitz paused in the door frame before turning back to look at Ward.

"Just so you know, even though she will deny it, she did worry about you." Fitz said as he left the room.

 


	20. An evening visit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to mt beta reader cassandra s fisher, please read and review

There wasn't much Ward could do at the moment. He had an idea it was evening time.Simmons had checked on him about half an hour ago, but she had left. It left him alone with his thoughts. He was about to drift off to sleep, when footsteps could be heard in the hallway. They were heading for where he was at.

He remained motionless in the bed, not bothering to turn around and acknowledge who it was, he already knew...

"Oh come on Ward, I know You're not sleeping, I may not be a specialist like you are.... were, but I know when someones pretending to sleep."Skye's soft voice commented.

  
"I wasn't pretending " Ward said as he sat up and faced Skye

In the room you could here a pin drop.

"Why did you do it?"

"Do you want the answer I should give you, or the truth?"

"The truth."

"I know you won't believe me if I tell you, but this is the truth."

"I'm listening,"

"I'd like to say I did it in order to redeem myself to the team, but I didn't it was for my own selfish reasons," he paused allowing that to sink in. "I saved Fitz because I am selfish. Coulson once said my punishment would be internal psychological. Thinking both Fitz and Simmons were dead it was the second worst form of psychological torture I endured. I just couldn't go through that again. I couldn't bear to see the small, crumpled body, to never again see his goofy smile or those bouncing curls…..."

"Even if him being alive, meant him hating you?" Skye asked.

"Yes, I would rather have him alive and hating me then dead, thinking me to be a good man."

"But he doesn't hate you. He told me himself. He told me he still has hope for you, why do you think that is when none of the rest of us do?"

Ward was quiet for a minute before answering.

"He told you he doesn't think I'm evil. What do you think?"

"Do you think you’re evil?"

"I'm not sure anymore. For the most part no. I know what I did was wrong. I will never be able to redeem myself, not even if I dedicated my life to helping you for one thousand years,”

“What do you view yourself as then, if not evil?"

"A monster, a weak man who could have had a better life, but tossed it all away for stupid, selfish, foolish reasons."

She swallowed as she listened to what he said. Silence once again filled the room.

"Thank you for being honest. " Skye said, as she stood up and headed for the door. Skye paused momentarily before turning around.

"You said thinking Fitzsimmons were dead was your second worst form of psychological torture, what was the first?"

"I think you already know the answer to that Skye." Ward said, as they eyes locked for a brief moment. Skye then nodded her head then she headed up the stairs to leave the room.


	21. Board games

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always thanks to my beta reader Cassandra S Fisher, please read and review

In the morning Ward woke up to see Coulson sitting in the chair beside his bed.

"Good morning Ward."

"Good morning sir."

It was quiet between the two of them as they sat there.

"What you did the other day was risky, and you acted without my consent,"

"Sir, with all do respect..."

"Let me finish Ward. You acted without my consent. It’s something I told you, it would earn you punishment. However your actions lead to one of my agents being saved, and I want to thank you for that."

"Your welcome? So, I assume it's back to the Cage then?"

"Not necessarily. You won't be returning to the cage, nor will you have a bunk. You will live in a secluded room in the bowels of the building. This room will have heavy security and will be monitored twenty-four seven. You'll also have to keep wearing the bracelet. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir."

"This is your second chance. Don't screw it up, or I will kill you."

"Yes sir."

Coulson stood and left the room.

"Alright you can go in now..." he heard as Coulson walked out of view.

Fitz came into the room, accompanied by Mac, this surprised Ward as he was usually with Simmons.

"Hello Ward, would you, would you like to play a,uh a...."

"Game."

"Ah yes, would you like to play a game."

"Yes, I would like to play a game."

"Cool. Is it okay if Mac plays with us?"

Ward looked at this new comer who he had only seen once on the mission he was currently recovering from. Mac smiled.

"The name's Alfonso Mackenzie, but most people call me Mac."

Mac stuck out his hand and waited for Ward to shake it. It was a moment before Ward took the outstretched hand in his.

"Hello, Mac. I'm….well you probably know who I am, are you sure you trust me?

"I trust Fitz's judgement."

Ward turned to look back at Fitz.

"I don't mind if he plays."

"Good, lets get to it then..."

Fitz pulled out a game of Clue, and began dealing out the cards.

"Alright let's begin.."

They were about halfway through the game when someone else entered the room.

"Mind if I join in?"

"We have already started playing, Skye, you'll have to wait to the next round."

"Aw...come on Fitz why did you start without me?"

"You would have been playing if you had been on time."

“You knew I had training with May, but I guess I will wait until you’re done."

She sat down on the other side of Mac.

The game soon ended, and by the end Trip had joined the group.

They started up another game this time with Skye and Trip playing.

"Oh come on Skye admit it you cheated!"

"I did not, Fitz, you just don't like the fact I won."

"Face it Fitz, she's just that good, I tried so many times to prove she was cheating when we played battleship, and I could never prove it..."

"I want a rematch."

They were all laughing and smiling.

"Fine I'll give you your stupid rematch, but be warned you’re gonna lose again..."

"Your on...."

They began to set up the game once more. It was then Ward couldn't help but think   
"This is almost like the old days...."


	22. Let's get invisible

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my beta Cassandra s fisher, please read and review

Veronica stood shrouded in the shadows, watching as her next victim came walking down the street. This particular victim was one she had been rather intrigued in finally capturing. For this person had the ability to make themselves invisible, a trait that would most assuredly aid in claiming her "grand prize" if the shield agent really did have the "abilities".

Victor had suggested Veronica would need to be very powerful. Ah...Victor, this had been the first time she had thought of him since she had murdered him. He had been a plethora of information and quite useful, but he had run his course. She had other ways to get information.

Victor had said that she was not the only one looking for this agent, that there was another, someone she should fear. Veronica scoffed at the idea no one could scare her, and she would be so powerful when she finally decided to go after this agent that no one would stand in her way.

Her thoughts turned back to the task on hand. She focused on the young girl who could turn herself invisible, she then took a step out from the bush she was hiding at and blocked the girls path.

"Hello,"

"Hi."

"I was just wondering if you could help me with something."

"Sure," said the girl with a bit of hesitation. "What do you need?"

"I need you.... and your power..." Veronica stretched out her hand as the girls eyes grew wide.  
The hand touched the shoulder, and the girl felt the excruciating pain throughout her body.

She tried to turn invisible, but found she couldn't. It was as if the ability was being drained from her. Veronica let out an evil laugh as the girl crumpled to the ground lifeless. Once again using her signature fireball to burn the remains to ashes, Veronica stood and continued on her way.

"Only a few more "collectibles" to go, and then I will go after my ultimate prize......"

 


	23. Battleship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always thanks to my beta cassandra s fisher

Fitz continued to visit Ward while he recovered, he would always have a game with him. Sometimes it was just Fitz, other times Mac, and Tripp came and on rare occasion Skye would come. They fell into a pattern, it was almost as if they had returned to the old days.

Playing games was comforting for Ward, but they still didn't help when the team would be whisked away on a mission. He was still on bedrest and so he could not go out into the felid. Every minute they were away it worried him, not knowing if all of them would return. He feared losing them so much, he had already lost them and now they had been generous enough to offer him another chance, he didn't think he could live through losing them again. He looked up at the sound of footsteps expecting to see Fitz with his usual game borad, but instead he was surprised to see Skye.

"Hey stranger,"

"Ready for me to beat you in battleship, again?"

"Where's Fitz?"

She seemed to hesitate before answering.

"He's busy. "

"Come on let's play before I change my mind."

"Coulson trusts me enough to let you come down here by yourself?"

"No, but he knows I can handle myself."

They began to play, each trying to beat the other.

"Say it Ward,"

"You sank my battleship."

"Yes." Skye said with a smile.

"Been a while since I have seen one of those."

"Well there's not much to smile about these days..."   
  
An uncomfortable silence hung in the room. The silence was broken by a buzzing pager.

"Well that's Coulson, got to go we should do this again sometime."

She was gone just as quickly as she had come.

  
Skye continued to come visit him and play battleship. Of course she always won at, not that Ward minded he was thankful for anytime he got to spend with Skye. However he had not seen Fitz for a few days and it worried him, he decided to risk it all one day while they played battleship.

"Skye?"

"Hmmm?"

"Is Fitz ok, he not hurt is he?"

"Fitz is fine... He's just, well he and Simmons have been fighting,"

"Fitz and Simmmons are fighting?"

"It's like they're not Fitzsimmons any more they're just Fitz, and Simmons, two separate people instead of one."

"What do they fight about?

"Lots of things."

"Do they ever fight about me?"

"Yes."

Ward flinched at these words, noticing his reaction Skye spoke up once again.

"It's not just about you. More often times then not it's about how Fitz's feels like he's a burden. He's holding Simmons back from her greatest potential, because she has to help him. Of course his feelings for her don't help much either, it's just so heartbreaking to watch, especially knowing how close they use to be."

  
Tears began to form in Skye's eyes. Ward reached out and placed his hand on her hand he was surprised when she didn't move it away.

"And what has Simmons told Fitz?"

"That he's not a burden, that he's not holding her back, but he just doesn't seem to believe her."

Silence once again hung in the room. Ward took a deep breath knowing once again he was taking a risk with the question. He was about to ask.

"Why does, jem...Simmons never comes here when we play games, why is she the only one who doesn't visit?"

"She's going through a lot with Fitz right now, and I think seeing you, just brings back memories of the.... of the incident and well..." She trailed off not finishing the sentence.

"Can you ask her to come, so I can talk to her, please?

"I'll talk to her about it, but don't get your hopes up..."

"I have to go..."

She left leaving Ward alone with his thoughts.

"If I can't help out in the field, then I have to try and bring Fitzsimmons back together, after all I am the reason they are like this, it's time to start fixing what I broke


	24. Matchmaker

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Matchmaker, matchmaker make me a match, find me a find catch me a catch.... Anyways thank you to my beta Cassandra S fisher, please read and review

Finally after what seemed like forever Ward was finally released from bedrest. Simmons had not come to see him despite his request not that he has expected her to, but it still upset him. Fitz continued to ask him to play games with him. The others such as Mac, Trip and Skye would occasionally join in. The team by no means had accepted him back on to the team, but they seemed to at least tolerate his presence among them. Fitz seemed to be his strongest supporter as it seemed he was the one who was the most comfortable being around him. They were playing a game one day as per usual when Ward decided to ask Fitz the question he had been holding off till the opportune moment....

"Fitz?"

"Yes Ward?"

"Do you come here and play games to avoid Jemma?"

"Well I uh... I..it's just...."

"It's okay Fitz. If you don't want to talk about it it's ok I won't push, that's something I learned from my psychologist."

"You went to a psychologist?"

Ward let out a chuckle.

"Nice attempt to try and change the subject. I'm impressed, but yes I went to a psychologist her name was Dr.Collins..."

"Oh....."

Silence hung in the room.

"It's not just Jemma. It's the rest of the team as well....I just feel like I am a burden, that I am in everyone's way. Mac has been a big help, but I still feel..."

"I know it's not my place and you have every right to not believe me, but please Fitz do not think of yourself as a burden to the team, they need you, now more then ever..."

"They don't need me, I can't do anything...

"Yes you can, you are one of the smartest people I know Fitz, I know you can do anything you want if you just put your mind to it and I don't just mean being as smart as you were before..."

  
"You mean Jemma, you think I could mend my relationship with Jemma and maybe even be something more then friends?"

"I don't think I know, you two are best friends perhaps she just need reminding of that, she needs to know that bond between you is still there..."

"I just don't want to pursue her only to get hurt, I just..."

"Then you try again sometimes you just got to pick yourself up and get back up on the saddle."

"She cares about you I know she does you just have to find a way to help her admit it.. And show her you care about her too.

"I'll try..."

"Good."

Fitz stood up and left the room.

A few hours later Ward found himself alone in the lounge, when he heard footsteps abehind him. He turned around to see Simmons cautiously and quietly approaching him. They stared at each other for what seemed like forever, before Simmons finally spoke.

"Hello Ward."

"Hello Agent Simmons "

"Skye said you wanted to talk to me."

"If your willing to, then yes."

"You want to talk about Fitz, don't you."

"Like I said it depends on your willingness, if you don't want to I understand."

"Why would I talk to you about it."

"Well I am responsible for his current.... condition, and believe it or not I feel bad that."

  
Jemma let out a long sigh.

"Things have just been difficult between us. I want to help him, but by doing so he feels like he is a burden and he is weighing me down. I have of course told him that he is not, but..so then I choose not to help him and I have to sit there and watch him struggle and it's painful and heartbreaking to watch."

"That's not the only thing causing a rift between you is it."  
  
It wasn't a question it was a statement.

"No it's not.... back when the...incident happened he told me... Somethings and in the heat of the moment, I didn't know how to react and now that he's out of his coma things can tend to get a little awkward."

"He admitted his feelings for you."

Once again it was a statement, and not a question.

"Before he admitted that I had never seen him as more then a friend."

"And now?"

"I don't know, there has just been so much going on I really haven't had time to process everything, I've just been overwhelmed and..."

"Not that my opinion matters to you in the slightest, but sometimes you don't realize what you have until you lose it, I lost what I was beginning to view as a family, I lost the only girl that I have ever loved. I don't want you to end up like me... sad and alone, I don't know if you feel the same way about him as he does you, but don't let the opportunity for you to have some happiness in your life slip away... even of you only remain friends, if you keep avoiding him, you might lose him forever and I know that is something you would regret... at least talk to him if not for me then for him, and for yourself."

"I will think about it."

She got up to leave.

"Thank you, I know you didn't want to do this so I appreciate that you took the time to do so."

"Your welcome..."

Jemma turned and left the room.


	25. Fixing Fitzsimmons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little something for the fitzsimmons shipppers, as always thank you to my beta cassandra s fisher

Fitz took a deep breath as he prepared to enter the lab where Jemma was working. Fitz slowly reached for the handle of the door and opened it. Jemma looked up from what she was doing.

"Oh, hello Fitz,"

"Hey Jemma. Listen we need to talk and sort out whatever.....this is.”

"You have been talking to Ward, I take it?"

"Yes."

"I don't even know where to begin Fitz, I mean things are so complicated now and I just…”

"Look Jemma, the longer we push this off the harder it's going to get, and the more we will drift apart,"

"What do you want to hear Fitz?"

"The truth."

"And what if the truth hurts?"

"Please Jemma, just this once, I'm tired of being lied to and I don't know how much longer I can handle this growing rift between us... So please..."

Jemma remained silent.

"Well if you're not going to talk then I will, you are the most beautiful girl I have ever met, I remember the first day we meet at the academy, at first I was jealous that you could best me with your knowledge of science, but I soon got over that when I learned how sweet, caring, polite and enthusiastic you were. We soon formed a strong friendship and I think my crush on you started not long after that, but I was scared to ever ask you out on a date, both because of my shyness and fear that it would ruin our friendship if you didn't feel the same way. So I was content enough to stay your friend, and then we were assigned to the same team, and I found myself falling for you more and more everyday.”

Leo shifted his weight between his feet. He needed to get this all out so she knew the truth.

“Then the whole Hydra fiasco happened, and I couldn't bare to see you die, so I decided to sacrifice myself, and I figured since I was going to die anyways I might as well tell you my feelings, and now here we are months later, I can assure you my feelings for you haven't changed, but I'm not who I use to be, I'm not as smart, or has high-functioning, I continue to struggle everyday. I just feel like a burden, not just to you but the rest of the team as well. I want whatever.... this is to stop even if it means just being friends, but if you don't want to be I'll understand. I'll leave, I will go work in the garage with Mac, I will stay out of your way, we'll only have to interact on missions."

He turned to go.

"Fitz." the reply came out choked.

He turned around, and saw tears streaming down her face.

"You are not a burden, and I mean that, the team needs you, I need you. You are my friend, my best friend and I don't want to lose you. I know you don't like help, but it pains me to see you struggling, while I stand by and do nothing. When we were trapped in that pod, there were so many things going on, so much chaos and when you admitted your feelings for me, for was just so overwhelming and I did not know how to react. I had never seen you as more than A friend, but when I saw you lying in that coma, I realized how much you meant to me, and I knew I would not survive if I lost you. I'm still not sure I feel the same way about you, but I do care an awful lot about you, and I am willing to take a chance and see where this new relationship could lead us, and maybe one day once all this craziness is sorted out I can tell you how I really feel, perhaps we are meant to be together, perhaps.”

It was all that Fitz needed to hear, before he was running across the room and embracing her in a hug, before kissing her bringing his hand up to cradle her head. And she kissed him back, it was a sweet and loving kiss which they finally broke apart for air.

"Thank you Jemma," Fitz said as he held her in an embrace. "Thank you."

"Oh Fitz, you gonna make me cry," she mumbled into his chest.

"Come on then." He pulled away and extended his hand which she grasped with her own

"Let's go watch that new planet of the apes movie, which will be nowhere near as good as the original, but I am sure it will still be good."

"Oh Fitz..." Simmons giggled

They walked hand in hand to the comfy foyer to begin the movie.

 


	26. Prove it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my beta cassandra s fisher, and thanks to a friend on ff.net who suggested the idea for this chapter

Things seemed to get better after Fitz and Simmons had rekindled their relationship seeing where it might take them in the future. Things fell into a pattern, missions usually consisted of continuing to take down Hydra bases, searching for intel, and of course saving people. Ward helped when and where he could. Jemma seemed to be more tolerant of him ever since she and Fitz had their heart to heart talk. He still wore the bracelet and they still hadn't accepted him as a member of the team, but things were much better than they had been months ago. He was playing his daily game with Fitz when Coulson came into the room.

"We need to talk Ward, now."

"Can't we finish our game?" Fitz asked

"No, we need to talk now."

"But we're in the middle of ..."

"It's fine Fitz, we can pick this up afterwards."

Ward stood up and followed Coulson to his office.

"Have a seat Ward." Coulson said, indicating to the seat in front of his desk. Ward did as he was told.

"I've got a mission," Coulson said.

"So why did you not call the team?"

"It's a solo mission for you,"

"You trust me enough to send me on a solo mission?"

"That's why I am sending you, you want to gain back my trust, and possibly even have a chance to be on the team again? Prove it, prove to me that you really want to be redeemed for your actions, by taking this mission."

"And what is the mission sir?"

"We've managed to locate an old enemy of ours,"

"Who?"

"Ian Quinn."

Ward felt his blood boil at the mention of the man who had shot Skye, but he kept his calm composure waiting for Coulson to continue.

"It seems he has been building his own group, to try and take over the world, he's rich so he's gonna be able to afford highly trained professionals, so we need a highly trained specialist..."

"To go in and take him out." Ward finished for Coulson.

"I may hate you Ward, but I can't deny your skills and training are useful especially in situations like this."

"So you want me to go in alone in a base full of trained professionals and take out Ian Quinn."

"If you want to start earning my trust back, yes, prove to me that I didn't make a mistake by actually bringing you back here. So what do you say."

" I accept the mission sir."

"It won't be easy and it will be extremely dangerous."

"I understand.".

"Good you'll leave in two hours, you are dismissed."

"Thank you sir . " Ward stood up and made his way to his room to get ready.

  
Skye sat alone at the bar, the past few days had been... confusing to say the least. of course like always Ward was at the heart of the problem. The things he had been doing over the past couple of days saving Fitz, being a friend towards Fitz, playing games with the team, helping Fitz and Simmons to fix their relationship... It only made her feelings towards him even more.... complicated.

He was trying so hard to redeem himself, and she hated it. When he was like this friendly, helpful, understanding, it was hard not to like him, hard not to want to be his friend, hard not to fall for him again. And that's what she hated she didn't want to fall for him again she was still hurt by his betrayal, he was making it so hard though, and if she did allow herself to fall for him again, how could she know she wouldn't be hurt again, she knew she couldn't go through it a second time, and yet there was still that small part of her that wanted to love him again, that wanted to give him a second chance...

"Mind if I join you?"

Skye looked up to see Bobbi.

"No, of course not."

Bobbi sat down next to her, pouring herself a drink before a comfortable silence fell between them.

"What's going on in that pretty little head of yours rockstar?" Bobbi asked after a few minutes.

"Nothing, I was just wondering after everything you been through why did you take Hunter back?"

"Ah, you know about that?"

"I think everyone does by now, I mean he's your ex-husband and he called you a demonic hell beast behind your back, why would you want him back? Shouldn't you hate him?"

"I should hate him, but I don't, that's not say I wasn't mad at him, and upset with him, but even after the divorce there was still a part of me that loved him. A part of me that will never stopped loving him. Despite all the heartbreak we had been through, no matter how much I tried to deny it there was always a part of me that loved him, that still loves him."

"But, aren't you scared me of getting hurt again?" Skye asked.ll

"Yes of course, that's always in the back of my mind."

"Then why take the chance?"

"Because I love him, and that's why I decided to give a second chance, the heart wants what it wants Skye. Maybe I will regret this decision. Maybe he will hurt me again. It's a risk I am willing to take, because not giving him a second chance and seeing where it leads, that's something I know I would regret. If I don't I could lose him forever, and losing him forever would hurt more then being hurt by him again."

Silence fell between them again.

"Look Skye, I don't know if we can trust Ward, but he has been helping us out and seems to regret his actions and want to make up for them. And I honestly think his feelings for you are real, I think he really does love you,...... And you still love him."

"No I don't, don't be ridiculous... I... "

"You can try and deny it all you want Agent Skye, but I'd know the face of someone in love ..."

"And how do you know that Agent Morse?"

"Because it's the face I see every time I look in the mirror,"

And with that she was gone, leaving Skye alone with her thoughts.

  
Skye was on her way to Ward's room, she had to talk to him and get this sorted out, because Bobbi was right, she still loved him, she had never stopped loving him... She was walking by Coulson's office the door was slightly ajar and she heard something that made her stop in her tracks...

"Are you sure we can trust Ward to do this?" came the voice of Melinda May.

"No, I'm not sure, although it seems that he wants to prove himself that we can trust him..."

"Phil, you know the risks of this are extremely high, in fact they're downright suicidal...."

"I know, but he was well aware of the risks when taking the mission, and if he really does want to redeem himself he shouldn't have any problem possibly giving his life to save the team, it would prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he meant what he said, that he really is trying to be a better man by making the ultimate sacrifice..."

"So that's why you're sending him in alone and not sending in the team, because if we do lose him...."

"It won't really matter, better him than one of our teammates."

Skye could feel tears at the corners of her eyes, Coulson was sending Ward on a suicide mission, and of course Ward had accepted because he wanted to redeem himself so much.

She was racing down the hall to his room, she had to stop him before he left, had to talk to him and tell him that she still.... The room was empty he had already left....

She turned heel and went back to Coulson's office, slamming the door open and startling the director...

"How dare you!" She said anger evident in her voice.

"Skye calm down, what's wrong?"

"How dare you send Ward on a mission you know it's very likely he won't survive."

"How do you even know about that mission Skye?"

"I overheard your conversation with May."

"He accepted it he knew the risks going in to it."

"You only offered it because you knew he would take it. You know how much he has been trying to redeem himself, that he would take this mission despite the risks, and hey if he got killed in the process then bonus for you."

"Skye please calm down, "

"And what were you going to tell us if he did die hmm, how do you think Fitz would feel, they've been rekindling their friendship, and he's been a real big help in Fitz's recovery."

"Fitz would be fine he's strong."

"No, no he wouldn't be... How do you think he'll feel knowing he just got his friend back only to lose him again?"

"There's no guarantee he will die Skye."

"If he does die I will never forgive you."

She turned and started making her way to the door.

"Where are you going?" Coulson asked

"I'm going after him, so he doesn't get himself killed. Don't you dare try and stop me."

And just like that she was gone leaving behind a very confused and shocked Coulson.

  
Ward was exhausted and in a great amount of pain, but he pushed himself further, he had to be getting close to Quinn, now and once he found Quinn he would do whatever it took to take him out, even if it cost him his life, he took a deep breath as he approached the last room at the end of the hall, surely Quinn would be here, no doubt with some body guards. He opened the door, his gun raised, sure enough Ian Quinn was there only he was bound and gagged.

"Hello Agent Ward long time no see." A man stepped out of the shadows.

"Jefferson?" Ward questioned

"Hail Hydra, or have you gone sniveling back to S.H.I.E.L.D. hmm Agent Ward? By the looks of it I'll say you have, such a shame really you could have easily led us to victory."

"What's going on Jefferson?"

"We knew that S.H.I.E.L.D. had a particular interest in Mr. Quinn here so we sent out some fake information in order to…”

"Set up a trap." Ward finished

  
"Give the agent a prize, except you failed to notice one little detail"

"And what is that?"

"Quinn's not the bait agent, you are...."

"Grant, Grant where are you?"

It was a voice he would recognize anywhere.

"How did you..."

"Garrett informed us of your little attachment, and we figured it only natural that she would come after you, it was all a ploy to get her here so we could cross her off and make Coulson suffer."

"You will not touch her." Ward said as he advanced towards Jefferson, only to feel a bullet enter his side causing him to crumple on the floor. Normally one bullet to the side wouldn't stop Ward (heaven knows he had been shot there many times), but the physical exertion and wounds he had received on the way to get here had caused him to fall.

Jefferson walked over to Quinn untying him and handing him a gun.

"Finish him." Jefferson said, as he slid back into the shadows.

Quinn stood and pointed the gun directly at Ward's head.

Bang.

The gun fired, only it wasn't Quinn's gun who had fired, it was Skye's. Quinn had been blasted back and the blood was beginning to drip from the bullet wound in his chest.

"Skye, what in the hell are you doing here?" Ward asked from his position on the ground.

"I came to get you of course,"

"Skye you need to get out of here now,"

"I'm not leaving without you."

"Yes you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Just leave me here to die, I deserve it."

"No you don't,"

"Yes, I do. My debt to the team will finally be repaid. If I die here, giving my life to protect you and the rest of the team. I don't know why you even bothered to come."

"I came because I lo…”

But the rest of her sentence was cut off as two gun shots echoed through the room.

 


	27. Saving Ward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always thanks to my beta cassandra s fisher and to my friend on ff.net for suggesting the idea for this chapter

She felt the two bullets enter her lower back, but she refused to acknowledge the pain she had to get Ward out of here. She turned her attention to Jefferson, shooting her gun at him, he let out a grunt of pain before toppling to the floor. She stood up trying her best to ignore the pain that was beginning to grow in her lower back. She held her hand out towards Ward, which he took and she helped hoist him up.

"Come on let's get you somewhere safe while we wait for the rescue team to arrive." Skye said.

They left the room. She supported him as they made their way out walking down the hallway,for a bit before pausing.

"We should rest here, and I can check your injuries," Skye said leaning him up against the wall. She sighed as she looked at the patchwork of cuts and bruises he had received.

"Are you okay Grant?" Skye asked looking up at him, he looked back at her giving her a small smile.

"I'm fine Skye, just a flesh wound nothing to worry about, are you okay?" Grant inquired knowing that it was highly unlikely the bullets had missed their mark.

Skye smiled glad she was wearing black so the lie she was about to tell would be convincing. If he knew she had been shot,he would begin to panic. At the moment they had enough to worry about. She had to stay strong for him,at least until the extraction team came.

"I'm fine Ward, I'm wearing kevlar, unlike you, you idiot what the hell were you thinking?" Skye exclaimed throwing her hands up in the air and glaring at him.

"I knew what I was getting myself into when I accepted this mission Skye," Grant said his hand covering his bullet wound.

"Do you have any idea, what it would have done to Fitz, if you had died? What it would have done to m...., you have been working so hard on gaining the team's trust back, you've made progress, granted it's slow progress, baby steps but it's still progress. You would just throw it all away, after all you have done you would just throw it all away for the sake of one mission?!"

"I had to prove myself Skye, prove that I really meant what I...."

"You don't have to prove yourself anymore Ward, especially not to me, The things you have done both big and small have shown me you really do want a second chance,that you want redemption. I think I forgave you a long time ago, I just let my anger and bitterness blind me, and I'm sorry. No more solo ops, Grant promise me." Skye rasped. Her back was beginning to really hurt, but she had to get this all out before she passed out.

He smiled at her, a welcoming and comforting sight.

"Okay Skye I promise, but what the hell are you doing here? How did you even find out?"

"I was on my way to talk to you when I overheard May and Coulson talking it over, I confronted him and gave him hell, and then I came to get you."

"Why?" He asked

"Because I love you Grant. I always have, even when I was angry at you there was always a part of me loved you."

"I love you too." Grant whispered placing his hand over hers.

"I know..." The response came out weak, and her vision began to blur, as the pain began to consume her. Ward immediately noticed the change.

"What the hell Skye, you told me you were wearing kevlar, you're not wearing any are you. You lied to me."

"I had to, you get so overprotective and if you had known I had been shot you would have freaked out and possibly done something stupid before the extraction team arrived."

"You were shot twice, how are you still talking to me?"

"I've been ignoring the pain, I had to focus on getting us out of here. I had to tell you how I really felt. Don't blame yourself for this, it's not your fault. I came here of my own free will." Skye heard her comms beeping. "They're finally here, let's go home."

Skye collapsed in his arms.

"Skye?!" His voice filling with panic, "Come on stay with me, I can't lose you! Stay with me."

The door at the end of the hall opened revealing Fitz who made his way over to them followed by medics.

"Over here ," Grant said.

The medics lifted Skye up, and placed her on a stretcher.

"We have to get her to medical,she's been shot twice in the back!" Ward rasped.

"Don't worry Ward we are going to get both of you out of here, " Fitz comforted. "Can you walk?"

"Yes."

"Good. Let's get out of here. The car is parked out front."

  
Eventually they made it back to the bus. Skye and Ward were rushed to medical, and were taken care of by a very anxious and yet relieved Simmons. They were both able to make full recoveries.

It was a few days after Simmons had released them. Skye requested Grant have his own room, not one that was monitored like the one he was currently staying in. It took a lot of persuasion, but Coulson finally agreed.

She was on her way to her own room one night, when she heard whimpers coming from Ward's.

She opened to door and stepped in before closing it behind her. She looked at the bed and saw Ward, nervously twitching and whimpering in his sleep. She approached him slowly and cautiously.

"Ward?" She spoke softly giving his shoulder a gentle shake. "Grant?" She whispered shaking his shoulder again.

His eyes flew open, "Skye? What are you doing here?"

"You were having a nightmare and I had to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine Skye, you should be in bed."

"What was it about anyways, the nightmare?" Skye asked.

He sighed.

"It was about you, You died and I...."

"Move over,"

"What?"

"Move over, robot."

He did as he was told moving over towards the wall, Skye crawled into the empty space.

"Skye, what are you doing?"

"I'm making the nightmares go away." She simply stated.

He placed his head back on the pillow and turning away from Skye, giving her space between them. He heard her sigh and roll over in his direction. Skye pulled his arm until he was on his back. She put her head on his chest, right above his heart, and her arm slipped around his waist. His arm slipped around her waist and pulled her closer. He could smell her lavender and chamomile perfume, and it seemed to relax him.

There was a comfortable silence between them, before Skye spoke up.

"I want you to be my S.O. again."

"Skye, May is you're S.O. now."

"I know and she has been great, but she's not you."

"Okay, but can we wait until morning to ask Coulson?"

"Sure, sure." she said cuddling into him.

"Good night Skye" Grant said, as he pressing a light kiss into her hair.

"Good night robot." Skye said with a yawn. Soon they both drifted off to sleep. 


	28. A new start

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always thanks to my beta cassandra s fisher, please read and review

When Ward woke up the next morning at 5:30 on the dot. Skye was still there with her arms wrapped around him. He smiled to himself happy that it wasn't just a dream he had, but that she was actually here sleeping in his arms. She let out a yawn before opening her eyes.

"Morning Robot," she said sleepily.

"Morning Rookie, sorry I didn't mean to wake you."

"Oh you didn't I'm always awake by this time."

"Since when do you get up early? You always used to hate getting up early for training, you would always complain about it."

"Since May took over my training, which by the way she will be expecting me soon, so I better go train with her one last time before we ask Coulson if you can be my S.O.again, it's the least I can do."

"We?" Ward questioned a hint of nervousness in his voice.  
  
"Yes we, and if Coulson has a problem with you being there, then he will have to deal with me going hulk rage on him again." She said with a smile.

"Ok , I'll go with you."

"Yes! , oh and Grant one more thing?"

"Yes?"

"I love you very much, and I want to have a relationship with you but for now can we take it slow? I mean we're still deep in shit right now and I figure it's best if we take things slow, not to mention it's gonna be hard enough to persuade Coulson to let you be my S.O again let alone him being okay that we're in a romantic relationship, It's not that I'm ashamed or afraid of dating you, but if we just rush into things given our current conditions,.... I'm not saying we can't ever do anything, but just start small you know? I... Do you get what I'm saying?"

"I understand Skye, and I think you’re right It's better if we take things slow and build up this relationship, I want to see where this could lead , and if that means taking things slow and starting small then I'm ok with that, besides..." Ward smiled as he trailed off "you give me everything just by breathing."

Skye raised an eyebrow "Really? Did you really just quote Twilight?"

Ward just smiled back at her.

"You're such a dork sometimes!" She giggled

"But i'm your dork, right?"

"Yes you're my dork, and it's one of the many reasons I love you."

"I love you too, Skye."

"I know, but I really need to be going now." She said as she stood up. She pressed a quick kiss to his check.

"Good bye, robot I will see you later."

"Bye Skye." .......

  
A few hour passed by. Ward let out a sigh as he stood in front of Coulson's office dreading what was coming next, Skye looked over at him noticing how nervous he was and smiled in his direction.

"Don't worry it's going to be ok, You'll have me there the whole time." She said as she slipped her hand into his intertwining their fingers. "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Good." She reached out and knocked, giving his hand a small reassuring squeeze before letting it go as the door opened to reveal a surprised Coulson.

"Skye .... Ward, what are you doing here?”

"We're here to make a request" Skye said.

"Does he really need to be here?" Coulson questioned warily eying Ward.

"Yes he does."

"Come in and take a seat," Coulson stepped aside and the two entered the room sitting down in front of Coulson's desk.

"Now what is this all about?" He said as he began to close the door.

"You should probably call Agent May as well, after all this does concern her." Skye said without turning around to face Coulson.

"All right ," Coulson picked up the phone and dialed "Agent May I need to see you in my office, there seems to be a situation that requires your presence."

He hung up the phone. They sat in awkward silence for what seemed like an eternity before hearing a knock on the door.

Coulson slowly got opened opened it, and May came into the room. "Agent May thank you for being here on such short notice."

"What is he doing here?" May said glaring at Ward.

"Apparently he and Agent Skye have a request and wanted you to be here."

"Did he hurt you again Skye?" Malice was obvious in her voice.

"Of course not, he would never hurt me." Skye defended.

"Then what is this request you have ?" Coulson inquired.

"I want Grant to be my S.O. again"

"No, Skye I can't allow that" Coulson said firmly.

"Why not?"

"You know why not besides Agent May is you S.O. now"

"And she's been great, she has taught me so much and I thank her for that, but I want my old S.O. back."

"And what are your thoughts on this Ward?"

"If you would be kind enough to allow me to, I would have no problem being her S.O. again Sir."

"Look if you do allow him to become My S.O. again, It will allow May more time to help you, I know being director has been stressful and a burden on you and having May there would help you."

"Why are you doing this Skye?"

"Because I'm giving Grant a second chance, everyone deserves a second chance right? You once said that you can save a person if you get to them fast enough, do you still believe that? Or was it all just bullshit?" She paused for a moment letting her words sink in.

Coulson let out a sigh, before looking at Ward "If I were to allow this can you promise me you would be on your best behavior?"

"Yes sir, of course."

Coulson turned towards Skye "and this would make you happy if I allowed it?"

"Yes very much."

He let out another sigh, "All right fine, I will allow this, but on one condition..."

"Phil you can't be serious?" May cut in "I mean you can't actually be considering letting him take over her training?"

"We have enough enemies as it is Agent May, the last thing we need is own agents being angry at us..."

"But..."

"Stand down Agent May, I will speak with you later," Coulson turned back to Skye and Ward. "Now like I was saying I'm willing to allow this with one condition..."

"And that condition is ?" Skye asked

"That your sessions are monitored, by myself or agent May."

"Monitored?"

"Just until I know I can trust you two to be alone together, that's the deal you can take it or leave it."

Skye and Ward exchanged a look and a nod before turning back to Coulson.

"We accept your deal., and thank you for being so understanding."

"Good, now if that is all will you kindly leave so I can speak to agent May in private?”

"Yes sir," they stood up and headed towards the door before Skye paused and turned around. "Wait." She said as she left Ward standing in the doorframe. She walked over to Coulson and wrapped her arms around him in a hug.  
"Thank you it means a lot, that you would do this for me."

  
Coulson was shocked for a minute by the sudden hug, but quickly hugged her back.

"You're welcome, but you should run along now." She let go of him and made her way back to Ward.

They left the room and Coulson closed the door behind them.

Ward let out a sigh of relief "I can't believe he actually said yes."

Skye smiled at him “It's not exactly what we wanted, but at least it's a start,now come on I'm getting hungry, let's go get something to eat." Her hand slipped back into his as she lead him to the kitchen.

It was later in the day when Coulson called the team together.

"All right team we have a new mission, as you know the fridge fell and released all manner of "gifteds" into the world dangerous gifteds..."

"And let me guess," Hunter asked "it's now up to us to round them all up again?"

"Not exactly." Replied Coulson you see it appears that many of these gifteds have been turning up dead.... Which knowing what some of them can do, is surprising, someone or something is killing them...."

"Hydra perhaps?" May suggested.

"Hydra wouldn't kill off anyone with powers, they'd want to recruit them." Ward said from where he stood by Skye.

"As much as I hate to agree with you Ward," replied Coulson "you're right Hydra would never kill off anyone they have an interest in, someone who would give them an upper hand in battle., so I think it's safe to say that it's not Hydra."

"Then who could it be?" Simmons questioned.

"That's what we're going to try and find out." Said Coulson. "A gifted by the name of Ryan was recently sighted not far from here with any luck whoever or whatever is going after these people will be going after him, and we can catch them in the process, we will touch down in an hour, Fitz, Simmons, and Mac and will stay here the rest of us will be out in the field keeping our eyes open for any suspicious activities, all you will be issued an Icer, May, Skye and Bobbi will be on one team, myself, Hunter and Ward on the other, does everyone understand?"

"Yes sir"

"Good see you all in an hour..."

Ward and Skye were sitting in the lounge waiting for the bus to land, he had his arm around her waist, and she was resting her head on his shoulder.

"Are you alright Skye? You're quiet and you're never quiet."

"I'm fine Grant, I guess I'm just a little nervous, I mean whoever or whatever this is has the power to take out people with powers and seemingly without any help. I know what some of those people can do and It scares me to think someone could kill them so easily, I don't want you or any of our teammates to end up getting killed."

"I understand, this is clearly a dangerous threat and we need to be alert at all times so one us doesn't end up dead."

"Promise me you won't do anything stupid or reckless Grant? I know you're a specialist and this is what you are trained to do, and you're the best since Romanoff and all that jazz, but please be careful for me? It's like you said this isn't something to be taken lightly, and I don't want to lose you, I can't lose you... So promise me you'll be good."

"I promise, and the same goes for you, I know you can handle yourself out there, but please be careful, because I can't lose you either it would destroy me inside..."

"Don't worry I'll be careful, after all I'll have you to come home to, provided you keep your promise."

"I always keep my promises Skye..."

"Good."   
  
They landed and split into their respective teams, they entered what an appeared to be a deserted village.

"Keep your eyes open, remember we're looking for Ryan, and hopefully whatever is killing people off will be close behind." Coulson's voice said over the coms. May turned towards Bobbi and Skye, let's start checking the abandoned huts to see if anyone is hiding inside."

Bobbi and Skye nodded, and they entered the hut closest to them. They searched the hut finding nothing, they continued down the line of huts, continuing to find them empty. They were halfway down the line when a blur went running past them, May immediately noticed it as Ryan. She taped her Comms.

"Coulson this is agent May we have spotted Ryan and he appears to be running away from something,"

As if to confirm May's suspensions a second figure this one cloaked ran past them in pursuit of Ryan.

"Should we pursue?"

"Yes , agent May, we will be there as soon as we can, users your icers if you have to."

She nodded to Skye and Bobbi.

"Let's go!" The there took off in the same direction as the two figures. The two figures entered the hut at the end of the line. The three women soon entered as well, they saw Ryan curled up in the corner fear evident in his eyes and the hooded figure approaching him slowly."

"Freeze! Or we'll be forced to shoot!" May yelled out as she and the other two raised their icers the figure stopped.

"Who are you?" May questioned.

The figure turned around, the hood of the cloak shading their face except for the mouth which curved into a smile.

"Oh hello My name is Veronica, Veronica Bishop.....


	29. It's a trap! ... maybe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my awesome beta cassandra s fisher

Stay where you are or I will shoot" May repeated

Veronica stood still for a moment staring at each of the three women her eyes lingering on Skye for the longest.

"Yes of course, agent "

"Now slowly step away from him."

"Whatever you say." Replied Veronica stepping away from Ryan.

May walked towards Veronica taking out some handcuffs, readying to place them on Veronica she nodded towards Skye. Bobbi kept her icer trained on Veronica ready to fire if she tried anything. Skye aproched Ryan who was still curled up in the corner shaking

"Ryan, My name is Skye, me and my friends are with Shield we can help you."

"I don't need your help, agent"

"You don't need to be scared, Ryan, we'll get you somewhere safe."

"You misunderstand agent," Ryan's voice grew sinister his mouth curling into a smile "I really don't need your help, I never needed anyones help"

The words dawned on Skye to late. In the next moment Ryan raised his hand and a bubble formed around him pushing Skye back. Ryan stood up and raced towards May and Veronica the bubble still encircleing him as he ran. Bobbi shot her icer, but the shots bounced off the bubble, on of them reverberated and hit May knocking her out cold, she fell to the floor and Veronica broke free of her grasp. Veronica and Ryan ran out the door.

"May!" Shouted Skye running over to her fallen commrade

"I'll take care of May" replied Bobbi. "You go after those two before they escape."

Skye nodded, running out the door. Veronica and Ryan were a good ways ahead of her but if she was fast enough she could catch them. The streets of the village were narrow making it more likley she would be able to reach them. She rasied her icer training it on Veronica instead of Ryan who still had his force field around him. She noticed that ahead the narrow path opened into a wide meadow, she had to stop them before they reached it or they would get away. She wasn't close enough to shoot yet, she pushed herself faster, they were almost to the meadow. Skye realized that she wasn't going to reach them in time, they had gotten to much of a head start, they were going to get away, but she had to try her best, perhaps a lucky shot...

The two figures had just reahed the edge of the meadow, and suddenly Veronica dropped down, Ryan didn't look back at his fallen commrade, but continued running, his forcefeild still intact. Finally Skye reached the edge where Veronica was on the ground just in time to see the last traces of blue leave her face a clear indication she had been shot by an icer. Ward stepped out from around the corner his icer still raised, Skye let out a sigh of relief.

"Are you ok Skye?"

"Yeah I am, but Ryan got away"

"Don't worry about him, we can go after him later" he said walking over to her and placing his hands on her shoulders. "For now let's worry about getting her back to Coulson."

"Ok"

"Who the bloody hell is she!?" Came the voice of Hunter who rounded the corner with Coulson just as Ward lets his hands drop to his side again.

"She was going after Ryan,". Skye explained.

"You think she could be the one going after people with powers?" Coulson.

"I'm not sure, when I went to help Ryan he turned on me , he used his forcefield to escape, with the distraction she was able to escape."

"You think they were working togther?"

"It's hard to know at this point, but I think so, what I don't understand is why put on the show?"

"When she wakes up we can ask her," replied Coulson "just get her back to the bus, where are agent May and agent Morse?"

"Back at the last hut, Bobbi shot an icer that bounced off Ryan's forcefield and hit May."

"Hunter you go help them, we'll take care of her"

"Right" said Hunter and headed towards the direction of Bobbi and May.

"Ward would you mind?" Coulson pointed towards the body.

Ward picked up the unconscious form of Veronica and the three started back towards the bus.

"Did you get any information out of her?" Coulson asked.

"Just her name she said it's Veronica Bishop."

"Hmmm doesn't ring any bells, but we'll have to wait and see."

"What are we gonna do with her?"

"We will lock her up for now, and then try and interrogate her when she wakes up see is she really is the one that has been going after powered people."

They finally reached the bus where they were greeted by Fitzsimmons and Mack.

"What happened and who is she?" Fitz asked

" Possibly who we are looking for possibly not."

"What does that mean"

"Though we can't be sure we believe she and Ryan may have been be working together, When Skye, May and Bobbi confronted them and tried to save Ryan he turned on them, the distraction was enough for them to slip away , Ryan escaped, but We were able to catch her."  
  
"If they were working together why the chase scene ?"

"That's what we are going to try and find out when he wakes up."

Hunter and Bobbi finally arrived carrying May between them, who had just barley woken up.

"Take agent May to her room so she can make a full recovery."

"Yes sir"

"Ward take Veronica down to Vault D"

Ward flinched ever so slightly and his voice wavered a tiny bit as he replied. "Y-yes Sir I'll"

"Oh Me and Mack can do that, Right?" Replied Fitz noticing his friends reaction.

"Yeah sure, I've got nothing better to do."

"Thank you," Ward said as he handed Veronica over to Mack, who slung her over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes. He and Fitz left the room.

Coulson let out a sigh "I have to go do a report on this mission" he strolled off in the direction of his office.

Jemma looked around the room her eyes resting on Ward and Skye who stood next to one another.

"Right... Well....uh.. I should probably.... Uh go check on May and make sure all her vitals are regular" and then she too was gone, leaving only Skye, Ward and the silence.

"Ward?" The silence was broken by Skye's soft voice as she looked at Ward in concern, who was looking at the ground.

"Are you okay Ward?"

."yes... no... it's just Vault D brings back to many memories, painful memories and I...."

"Hey, it's ok," Skye said as she wrapped her arms around his waist. "You don't have to go back there if you don't want to."

Ward pulled her closer wrapping his arms around her and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Thank you"

They didn't know how long they stayed in that postion, just wrapped in each others embrace enjoying the warmth, and comfort they brought to one another, they just stayed as long as they felt nessary, not needing to speak to each other physically, but just sharing that special connection they seemed to have.

Ward was the first to pull away, "I love you, and I will see you tonight."

"Love you too, Robot"

They both went their seperate ways, Skye leaving to help Coulson finish the report of the mission and Ward headed towrds the gym to blow off some steam......

It was later in the afternoon when Ward went looking for Skye again he found her in her bunk on her laptop, muttering to herself. She didn't acknowledge his presense as he entered the room.

"Skye?" No response

"Sweetheart are you alright?"

She looked up "sorry Ward, I'm fine it's just that, nevermind it's stupid...

"No Skye it's not stupid whatever it is, you can tell me."

"It's just today's mission seemed too easy, I mean if Veronica really is who we are looking for it shouldn't have been that easy to take her out, if our hunches are correct then she's the one who has been taking out people with powers, and then she is taken out by a couple of agents?, it dosen't make sense."

"Well I am pretty good at my job" Ward smirked.

"Show off" she said as she rolled her eyes and gave him a playful punch in the arm. "I'm serious though, if she can kill people with powers , why not kill us, she had an opportunity, I'd expect someone like her to put up more of a fight."

"So you think she wanted to be captured?"

"I... Maybe?.... I don't know,"

"Guess we will have to wait and see"

"If it was her plan to get captured, why?"

"Perhaps shield has something she wants?"

"Yeah , maybe..."

"Don't stress to much about it sweetheart, we'll find out soon enough" Ward said as he kissed her temple.

"Right, of course , I'm probably getting worked up over nothing, thanks for talking to me it helped to ease my nerves if only a little."

"You're welcome."

It was finally time for the interrogation, Coulson was going to be the one questioning Veronica, with May staying close by his side. Skye hacked into the camera feed, she had told Ward it was so she could put her worries to rest. She was sitting on her bed with her laptop, he sat on the bed to behind her and she leaned back so she was resting against him.

Coulson stepped into the room and turned on the lights, Veronica was already standing up right at the edge of the cage as if she knew Coulson was coming. He sat down in the chair.

"Are you sure you want to watch this Grant?" Skye asked concern in her voice "I'll understand if you don't want to..."

"I'll admit it brings back unpleasant memories, but I'll be fine I have you here."

Skye smiled at that and then turned her attention back to the monitor.

"Good Morning ,Veronica, my name is Phil Coulson I'm the director of shield."

"I'm honored, you must think I'm pretty special if the director is coming to talk to me." Veronica replied.

"Here's the deal Veronica, my partner agent May, is just outside this room monitoring your vitals, so she will be able to tell if you are lying."

"I'm hurt director, that you would just automatically assume I would lie to you, and you know what they say about assuming something..."

"That's enough, I'm just here to ask some questions."

"Then ask away director"

"What is your name?"

"Oh let's start off with a hard one, I already told you my name is Veronica Bishop."

"Do you have any relatives?"

"Just mom, dad and dear little sister."

"Do you have a criminal record?"

"No, you know as well as I that would have popped up when you were searching for my name in your data base."

"How did you know about that?"

"Isn't that what all government agencies do when they bring someone suspected of doing a crime, let's just cut to the chase director, you,and I both know the real questions you want to ask."

"Alright , are you the one going after people with powers?"

"Ah so now the real questions have begun... Yes director I am the one who has been going after people with powers."

"Why?"

"I'm a collector of sorts"

"Of what money? Jewerly ? Or maybe you're one of those sick people that collects organs and sells them on the black market?"

"I assure you director i'm interested in something far more... Unique"

"And that would be ?"

"Shouldn't it be obvious director?

"Powers, you're going after people's powers"

"Exactly."

"How is that possible, are you telling me you can extract people's powers?"  
  
"That is exactly what I'm saying"

Coulson stood up "thank you for your cooperation, I'll talk to my team and see what needs to be done with you." He headed to the door, veronica's eyes boring into him the whole while. The door slammed closed, and and before the lights shut off, Skye could have sworn Veronica looked directly at the camera and winked.


	30. And the earth began to tremble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some scenes may seem familar and have been altereted to fit this fic, As always thank you to my beta cassandra s fisher, please leave a review, I love hearing what you think!

 

Chapter 30

The screen went black, and Skye shut the laptop. She placed it on the bedside table before turning back toward Ward and leaning into him again; he wrapped his arms around her pulling her closer.

"Feeling any better now?" He asked.

"A little, at least, we know she's the one who's been going after people with powers, but it still doesn't explain why we got her so easily."

"Well S.H.I.E.L.D. does have an extensive list of people with powers, perhaps she's after that?"

"She could be, but why not hack the system?"

"Those files are highly classified, it would be hard to hack into them I mean I'm sure you would be able to do it, but the average person wouldn't be able to."

"Then why not lead an attack on S.H.I.E.L.D.or something? why would she let herself get captured, it's not like she can do a whole lot from the vault."

"We don't know I'm sure Coulson will question her again, and we'll get more of an idea of what she wants with Shield," Ward said as he ran his hand through Skye's hair trying to soothe her.

"I'm sorry If I'm paranoid," she said leaning into his touch it just doesn't sit well with me."

"You're not paranoid you're thinking like an agent, it's important to be aware of your enemies and question their motives."

"Your inner Robot is coming out again, Ward."

"But you still love me right?"

"Of course, I still love you Robot ." She said leaning in and kissing Ward on the lips, his hands moved to cradle her face, gently caressing her cheek with his thumb they were about to deepen the kiss when they heard a knock on the door causing them to jump apart.

"Skye, Coulson wants to have a team meeting." came the voice of Fitz

"Okay, I'll be right there."

"I'm going to tell Ward."

"No that's ok, I can get Ward, you go on ahead "

"Ok, see you in a few minutes."

The sound of Fitz's footsteps slowly started to fade away, until he was gone.

"Come on let's go," Skye said with a sigh.

"Ok, " Ward said before pressing another quick kiss to her lips. They both stood up. Skye reached her hand out which Ward happily took as they made their way out of the room and towards the rest of the team.

The team was now all standing around the holo table.

Is this about that crazy lady downstairs? Asked Hunter.

I'm afraid we have a more pressing issue, said Coulson "I've called you here because we just received a video message."

"From who?" asked Hunter.

"I'll just play the video, and you can see for yourselves." Coulson pressed a button, and an all too recognizable face came up on the screen.

"Oh my god, it's Raina," said Simmons raising a hand to her mouth.

"Hello Shield, I don't have much time for this message," Raina said as the video played "Whitehall has me, I don't know how but somehow he managed to get a diviner, he plans to use it...."

The team let out gasps. "Whitehall has a diviner? that can't be good, we all know what it did to Hartley." Replied Tripp.

"There's something else too, Raina continued; she paused as if hesitant to say what she was about to say. "Skye, your father is here too... I have to go now ..." And with that the transmission cut to static.

Ward glanced over in Skye's direction he had seen her stiffen out of the corner of his eye when Raina had mentioned "your father" "are you ok Skye?" He asked.

The whole team turned to look at her; she gave herself a shake, "yes I'm fine." She said

"Are you sure?" Coulson asked, "We'd understand if you want to sit this one out."

"No. I'm fine we need to stop, Whitehall before he uses the diviner. I've seen what it does, and I wouldn't wish that fate on my worst enemy, we have to stop, him and my...my father, if he is the monster people, says he is."

"Good, we've traced Raina's location she's in Puerto Rico, we headed en route right now; I'll call you all together when we land. "You're all dismissed."

 

With that the team all went their respective ways, Ward waited till everyone left before taking Skye's hand and gently leading her back to her bunk, closing the door behind them and guiding her over to sit on the bed. "Are you sure you're ok Skye?" He asked concern evidently in his voice.

"I'm all right; I suppose meeting my father was inevitable, I just didn't think it would happen so soon... And if he is a monster as we've heard..."

"Hey it's ok, " Ward said pulling her into his arms, so her head was resting against his chest. "We don't know that for sure, I mean people didn't understand Thor, at first, right? they thought him a god when he was more of an alien."

" I guess, but my father destroyed a whole village..."

"Maybe he had good reason to or, perhaps he's changed since then."

"I guess."

"Are sure your ok, I'm confident that we can handle this without you."

"I'm fine it's just... Can you just...hold me, make me feel safe?"

"Always" replied Ward is leaning back, so he was laying down on the bed pulling Skye with him. He began slowly running one of his hands up and down her back trying to soothe her. " I'll stay with you the whole time if you want."

The only reply he got was a soft hum as Skye's breathing slowed down and she drifted off into sleep, placing a kiss atop her head Ward also closed his eyes to take a short rest before they reached their destination and whatever it might hold for them.

Soon they arrived, Rania was waiting for them. She instantly approached Skye, "good you came, if you'll follow me I'll take you to your father."

"She isn't going anywhere with you."Ward said pointing his gun and Raina.

"It's ok Ward," said Skye "I'll go with her, "

"Do you want me to go with you?"

She paused for a moment considering his offer "No I think this is something I need to do by myself."

"At least, let me walk there with you, make sure Raina is taking you to your father."

"Ok"

"We need to get moving before Whitehall notices you're here." Raina said

"Ok let's go."

Raina took the lead and Ward and Skye followed after her while the rest of the team spilled up to try and find Whitehall before he found them.

They continued down the hallway in silence, out of the corner of his eye Ward saw Skye observing her surroundings, checking for guards and weapons seeing how many exits there were, he smiled to himself, she was becoming a better agent every day, and he was proud of her. They reached the end of the hall where two doors stood.

"He's in there." Raina said

"You sure you don't want me to go with you?" Ward asked turning to Skye

"Yes I'm sure, I need to do this by myself."

"I'll be right out here if anything goes wrong yell for me and I'll be right there."

"I will."

Raina opened the door, and Skye stepped inside, and Raina closed the door behind her; leaving Ward to worry just outside the doors.

It was after Skye talked to her father that all hell broke loose. Whitehall had finally discovered the team was there and called out all his men, surrounding the team, guns trained on them, the team also raised their weapons the two teams staring at each other waiting for someone to take the first shot, silence hanging heavy between them. The silence broke when Skye and her father entering the room.

"Just who we were looking for, " Whitehall said, "now then if you wouldn't mind picking up the diviner..." He said indicating towards one of his guards who held a briefcase which he then opened to reveal the glowing diviner.

"I already told you I can't pick it up," Skye's father said

"Not you," Whitehall said "her..." He nodded towards Skye.

Ward instantly trained his gun on Whitehall

"Careful Agent Ward fire at me and the rest of my team fires out yours there's no way you can save all of them" his attention turned back to Skye, "you want your teammates to live, then pick it up."

"You first" Skye shot back

"Pick it up and no one gets harmed, are you willing to risk the lives of your team?"

Skye let out an angry sigh before turning to the guard and picking up the diviner.

Fear instantly filled Ward as his eyes traveled towards Skye, he had heard about what happened to Agent Hartley when she had picked up the diviner, he didn't want the same to happen to Skye.

Skye held the diviner in her hand, in glowed orange, but It wasn't turning her like it had Hartley, shock momentarily filled her eyes before she turned and swung it at the nearest guard causing a chain reaction in everyone else as fighting broke out everywhere.

In the confusion, Skye lost the diviner. She glanced up to see Raina grabbing a hold of it, from the look in Raina's eyes Skye could tell that she wanted to use the diviner for her means; no one else seemed to notice. They were all caught up in their fights. She had to go after her; she had to stop her before she could hurt anyone. She took off in the direction of Raina; she was so busy running she didn't see Tripp and crashed into him.

"Are you ok Skye?"

"Tripp? What are you doing here?"

"Fitz and I rigged the ancient chamber to blow up when we headed up to help you, what's going on?"

"Raina has the diviner; I think she's planning on using it in that chamber. I need to go after her and stop her." she paused for a minute "Tripp you need to keep Ward from following me, he probably has already noticed I'm gone, you need to stop him, if he goes down there he'll get killed, you need to keep him away, whatever it takes..."

"Ok, go or you're not going to catch her" With that Skye once more took off after Raina.

  
The battle was raging on, but it seemed S.H.I.E.L.D. had the upper hand, their win confirmed when There was a loud thud; everyone turned to see Whitehall on the floor bleeding out, Coulson behind the gun. The rest of Whitehall 's team froze in shock.

"No!" The scream came from Skye's father "You took away my revenge!" He started swiftly advancing towards Coulson.

May jumped out in front of him choosing to fire her icer instead of a gun wanting to keep Skye's father alive for Skye's sake. She began firing, Skye's dad leaped out of the way, he turned to see more icers pointing at him, and he seemed about to return the attack, but then turned and ran. May went running after him.

"Let him go, " Coulson said "we have other things to worry about" the attention turned back towards the remaining people of Whitehall's team, who had dropped their Guns in surrender.

Ward glanced around and was concerned. "Where's Skye?"

"She went after Raina. Raina got a hold of the diviner and Skye feared she was going to use it, so she went after her."

"No!" Ward let out a yell and took off in the direction of the chamber, only to be stopped by Tripp.

"Get out of my way!"

"No, you'll die if you go down there," Tripp said trying to restrain Ward the best he could.

"I don't care, " Ward yelled, "I need to get to her, she's down there all by herself."

"You'll be no good to her dead!" Tripp yelled back.

"Get out of my way Tripp." Ward gave him a firm push attempting to knock him to the ground. Tripp grunted losing his grip it was enough for Ward to get free and he tore off down the hallway, Tripp and the rest of the team following after. Ward reached the end of the hall and saw Skye in the chamber.

"Skye!" He yelled out.

Skye turned in his direction, her eyes widened "Ward?"

He began making his way towards her, but a stone door slammed down in front of him before he could enter the chamber.

"Skye!" He yelled again slamming his fist against the stone.

"Ward what's going on?" Came the voice of Coulson.

"The door closed before I could get in there!"

"Don't worry Ward; we'll figure out a way to get her out of there."

"What if we don't?"

We will; everything is going to be ok."

And that's when the earthquake started.

The whole place was shaking violently, Ward desperately looking for a way to reach Skye before the quake brought the building down the top of them. Finally, the stone door opened again, and he raced in.

Skye was on the floor, tears streaming down her face.

"Skye, are you ok?" Ward said approaching her.

Skye didn't seem to hear him.

"Skye, we need to get out of here," he said walking over and scooping her up in her arms. "Come on let's go."

As he stood up he noticed the earthquake had stopped, Skye snuggled closer to him, her face buried in his chest and her hand tightening around his arm, she let out a muffled sob.

"Skye? What's wrong are you hurt?"

"No, I.... I '... The eart..." Her voice was weak and shaking.

He was about to ask what was wrong again, but medical had arrived along with Coulson "put her on the stretcher, Ward we're going take her to medical apparently Raina was able to activate the diviner, we need to get her to medical and make sure she's okay."

Figuring it was best to stay on Coulson 's good side, he nodded and placed Skye on the stretcher.

"Ward, ... Grant.." Skye called out weakly again.

"It's ok, I'm here, Coulson's here, we're going to get you medical," he said brushing the bangs out of her face. The medical team began to carry the stretcher out.

"Go with her," Coulson said.

"You trust me ?" Ward asked.

"I don't have much of a choice; I need to get the rest of the team so we can get out of here."

Coulson turned and headed back towards the team, and Ward followed after Skye.

They had to put Skye in quarantine and take her blood to run tests on it. The whole experience hurt Skye; she looked sick, and there was nothing Ward could do about it. It was killing him; Coulson wouldn't allow anybody in to see her, for safety reasons.

Coulson didn't want to risk anyone getting infected, so he had to sit there and watch through the glass barrier, unable to comfort her. It hurt him to see her becoming a shell of her former self; she still hadn't talked about what exactly had happened down there.

Ward didn't want to push her to talk about it, but he knew the longer she waited, the worse she would get. He went down to check on her one night; she was on her bed facing away from him when he entered, but she turned around when he got closer to the barrier.

"Hey, Skye."

"Hey Ward." her voice was barely above a whisper.

"How are you feeling?"

"I've been telling everyone I'm fine, I am just tired, and it's not true, well it's partially true, I am tired." she stood up and slowly walked over to the glass wall. "The truth is I'm scared."

"Of what? Skye, what happened down there with Raina, you know you can tell me anything, please tell me what happened so that I can help you, it kills me to see you like this, knowing I can't do anything, please let me help you.." Ward placed his hand on the glass in an attempt to get as close to Skye as possible.

Skye raised her hand and put it, so it matched Ward's on the other side. Grant, I'm.... There's something ..." But before she could finish Bobbi entered. Ward stepped away from the barrier.

"Sorry, I'm not interrupting something am I?" Bobbi asked.

"No, we were just talking."

I brought you a care package; they're some snacks in there, chocolate and this weird soda from California. She brought the box over and placed in the slot that allowed Skye to receive food, drink and fresh clothes.

"Thanks, Bobbi," Skye said taking the package.

"You're welcome Rockstar, you deserve it after the hell you went through, well I should probably check on Hunter. " and she left.   
  
Ward looked back at Skye, who had moved back to sit on her bed.

"Ward can we talk later, I just, I just want to go to sleep, she said tears were starting to slip down her cheeks.

"Of course Skye, goodnight."

"Night"

The next morning Skye heard footsteps thinking it was Ward she turned around "Ward l..."

But it wasn't Ward it was Fitz,

"Fitz what are you doing here?"

"I was monitoring your heart rate when you were in the chamber, "

Fear filled Skye's eyes "no, no!"

"It was way off the charts; it was inhuman..."

"No! no" tears were streaming down her face, and the room was starting to shake.

"Skye you need to calm down."

All of a sudden a light behind Skye shattered engulfing them in darkness. Fitz opened the door and walked over to Skye

Skye hugged him "there is something very wrong with me...." Skye said.

"No, no you're just different now, and there's nothing wrong with that."

"Skye?... Fitz?.... What's going on?"

They both broke the hug and turned around to see Ward standing there with a mix of confusion and concern on his face.

"Ward..." Skye said.

Fitz looked between them "I'll let you two talk, Ward will know what to do." He got up and left the room, his absence in Skye's room was soon replaced by Ward.

"What was that about, what happened to that light?"

"Grant I..." Skye let out a sigh "it's time I told you what happened down in that chamber."

Ward instantly wrapped her in his arms "ok; I'm here for you..."

Skye told him the whole story, how Raina had activated the diviner how her body became covered in stone, how she had broken out and how she had been the one who caused the massive earthquake.

"Oh Skye, I'm so sorry you had to go through that," Ward said, as he was gently rocking her back and forth.

"I wanted to believe it was all a dream, but the Fitz came down and told me my heart rate was way off the charts, and things started shaking, and the light blew out, and that pretty much confirmed it." She paused for a moment trying to compose herself " Grant, I destroy things now, these earthquakes are destructive, I'm... I'm a monster...,

"No!, you could never be a monster Skye, believe me, I would know, you're not a monster."   
  
"Yes, I am..."

"No, you're not, " Ward said and then he was kissing her, with gentleness and yet there was also the passion behind it. Skye's arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him even closer. Eventually, they broke away for air

"You still love me?" Skye asked

"Of course, I do."

"Even though I cause earthquakes now?"

"That doesn't change how I feel about you. I love you, Skye. I just want to help you; you've become so distant since Puerto Rico; so distant since you went down in that chamber. I've been watching you become a shell of yourself, and it's been killing me that I have to see you suffer, I just want to help you, because I love you."

"I- I love you too," Skye said, and then she kissed him again. They broke apart again their foreheads resting together.

"We're going to figure this out together, ok?"

"Okay."

"I'm going to get something to clean up the glass; I'll be right back," Ward said standing up from the bed and left the room.

Skye let out a sigh and sunk onto the bed. She was glad Ward didn't fear her; he didn't think she was a monster, and he still loved her. Skye knew the time would come to tell the rest of the team. She didn't know how they'd react. Fitz seemed to be ok with it too, but she was scared of how the rest of the team was going to react.

Would they see her as a monster? Would they send her away and abandon her? She had always been left throughout her life, being bounced from house to house, from family to family, she felt as is Skye had finally found her family in S.H.I.E.L.D., and she didn't want to lose it.

Ward had returned with a trash bag, a broom, some gloves and a new light bulb. Together they cleaned up the broken glass, and Ward replaced the lightbulb.

"We're going to get through this ok?" Ward said walking over to Skye and placing a kiss on her forehead.

"I just don't know how the rest of the team is going to react, and that makes me nervous, what if they're scared of me, what if they think I'm a monster."

"They won't believe that they love you too, we all just want to help you."

"I hope you're right..."

Fitz came back, "Skye, how are you feeling?"

"Better" Skye replied

"Good, I...uh switched out your blood samples with some of my own. The teams dealing with enough right now, I thought it might be best if we kept this under wraps, we do need to tell the team eventually, but not right now. We should wait until things calm down a bit."

"Thank you, Fitz, it means a lot that you would do that."

"You're Welcome, Once the blood tests come back clean, you'll be released from quarantine, that should help, I know you haven't liked being caged up like an animal."

"Thanks, Fitz."

"I'll check on you later." and with that Fitz left the room.

Ward looked over towards Skye.

"You look like you're about to fall asleep standing up, get some rest."

"Ok, thank you, for everything, for being there for me..."

"Of course, I love you "

"I love you too."

Just like Fitz had said Skye was released from quarantine, seeing as "her blood" was normal. Skye hated lying to the rest of the team, but she had to agree with Fitz, they had too many things to worry about they didn't need to add this to the list. Skye knew she would have to tell them eventually, or they would find out eventually if she created more earthquakes soon enough they would connect the dots and find out she was the one who was creating them, one way or another the team would find out.

Ward assured her that he would be right beside her when she decided to tell the team. She had moved into Ward's bunk, well, at least, she slept there every night, Ward made her feel safe, despite what had happened, what she had become, he still loved her, and that brought her comfort which she needed right now with everything that had happened. She felt Ward roll over in the bed, his arm wrapping around her waist and pulling her closer.

"Having trouble sleeping sweetheart?" He whispered in her ear.

"No, I was just thinking..."

"About what?"

"Nothing, everything, telling the team..."

"Are you sure you're ready for that?"

"I-I don't know, the longer we hide it the worst they're going to react, " tears began to form in her eyes

"Shhhh, it's ok, you don't have to tell them until you're ready, and I'll be right there with you."

"I know I just hate keeping secrets from them,"

"We're spies keeping secrets is kind of on our resume,"

"True, but they're not just a team, they're my friends..."

"Exactly, which is why I know everything is going to be ok. When you decided to tell them, they all care about you, and this is not going to change how they feel about you. We'll tell them when you're ready, for now, let's just go back to sleep."

"Ok," Skye said snuggling closer to Ward.

He kissed the top of her head, "everything is going to be okay," he whispered as he felt her drift off to sleep "everything is going to be ok...."

Only everything was not okay. It was just their luck that some Kree warrior and a memory wiped, Lady Sif showed up on their doorstep a few days later, and, of course, Vin Takk the Kree warrior was after Skye. He saw her as a monster, a threat which needed eliminating.

The whole situation caused Skye to create another earthquake, revealing her secret she had been trying so hard to keep, the team knew now, and it hadn't been under the best of circumstances.

Eventually, they were able to sort everything out, defeat Vinn Takk and restore Sif's memories. The team had said nothing to Skye since the incident; she could feel their nervous looks on her back. Whenever she turned around to face them, they only smiled and nodded their heads. Their smiles seemed ungenuine, she was tired of it all, she needed to talk to them, get all this tension between them sorted out. Skye was on her way confront them when she heard her name she froze just outside the door.

"We need to protect her..." Fitz's voice said.

"No, we're the ones that need protection from her,"

That was Mac.

"No, she needs our help..."

"We do want to help her Fitz, but it's clear she doesn't have control of these .... New found abilities; it might be best if we..."

The voice of Jemma rang out her words cut Skye deep; tears began to slip down her face. Skye turned and headed back to Ward's bunk; collapsing on the bed and cried. The room was starting to shake, making her cry, even more, she didn't hear the door open, didn't listen to the approaching footsteps, didn't realize someone was in the room until she felt strong arms wrap, around her, pulling her into a warm embrace. She turned around to see brown eyes looking back at her, "Ward" she whispered, the shaking suddenly coming to an abrupt stop.

"Do you want to talk about it..." He asked.

Silence filled the room for what seemed like, an eternity.

"Skye..."

"You told me once you would take me to my father,"

"I did tell you that once, but I don-"

"I want to do that I want to find my father...."


	31. Family reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To me skye will always be skye, her father feels differently however.... As always thanks to my beta cassandra s fisher

You what?" Ward asked.

"I-l..." Skye sat up wiping the tears off her face and sighing " I want to find my father." she repeated

"What happened Skye?"

"I was going to go talk to the team about the whole earthquake thing and I overheard them.... Mack and Jemma they're.... They're scared of me, said they needed protection from me , Fitz was trying to defend me ,but his voice was drowned out by the others... I told you they'd think I was a monster..."

"I'm sure they don't think you're a monster, they're just going through a lot , and they're...

"Scared of me, how can I continue spending time with them, if they look at me like I'm going to accidentally kill them by opening up a crater at their feet or causing a building to collapse on them, ..."

"Skye, they're your family, I'm...."

"Exactly, I don't want to hurt any of them, which is why I want to go find my father.... When I talked to him in Puerto Rico he told me I was going to change, and that people would look at me differently , I didn't know what he meant then now I do, if he has some sort of explanation as to what happened to me, or how I can get better control of whatever this is, it's worth going after him."

" Are you sure that's what you want to do? From what we've heard your father doesn't have the best track record , I witnessed his anger myself, after Coulson killed Whitehall, he looked like he was going to attack him until May Tried to shoot him and he ran off..."

"Something tells me he won't attack me, I'll admit I was a little uncomfortable when I was talking to him, but it was a sort of awkward uncomfortable, he seemed to at least trying to be nice, I really don't know I hardly spent any time with him to really get to know him, but I am his daughter so I don't think he'll hurt me." She paused trying to gauge Ward' s reaction. " Please Ward, I just need to get away from shield for a little bit, I need answers and he might have them..."

Ward let out a sigh. "Okay, we'll go , but the first sign he starts to show any signs of uncontrollable aggression or tries to hurt you in anyway, we're gone,"

  
"Deal, and Thank you." Skye said hugging Ward.

"We'll have to find a good time to leave one that won't arouse suspicion, perhaps after training , With May and Coulson still monitoring us, it would be good to show up for training , if we were to leave in the middle of the night it might arouse suspicion when we didn't show up for training, we need as much of a head start as we can get, they're going to find out, but hopefully we'll be long gone by then., Pack a small bag hide it out of plain sight, but also somewhere you can have easy access to it, you are also going to need to hack the camera feed and doors for us to get out. Think you can do all that?"

"Yes I can "

"Good we'll plan on leaving tomorrow after training, there usually a few hours between then and when Coulson call us in for a debrief."

"Ok" Skye said looking down at the floor

"Hey, we're going to figure everything out ok?" Ward said lifting her chin and causing her to look at him. He pressed a light kiss to her lips "let's try and get some sleep for now and worry about things in the morning."

"Okay."

They both climbed into bed, Ward pulled her close, turned off the light and kissed her one more time

"I love you, " he whispered in her ear

"I love you too..." She whispered back before they both fell into an uneasy, but welcome sleep.

Luckily enough for them they were able to slip out after training and grab their bags, everything was going smoothly until they reached the hangar door, Skye tried to over rode the door lock, but it wasn't working .

"Dammit," she hissed under her breath. "Coulson must have changed it, probably to keep me in , couldn't risk me getting out when I don't have any control over it ."

"You don't know that for sure, it could have just as easily been to keep me from running, you think you can hack it?" Ward said

"I don't know , probably, but I don't know if Coulson has an alarm rigged if I try and hack the system, guess I'm going to have to risk it, I don't know how we'll get out otherwise...."

"Say please."

Skye and Ward whipped their heads around at the voice, fearing they had been caught. There stood Fitz.

"Fitz.... We..."Skye started.

"I know you're leaving," he interrupted. "Don't worry I'm not here to rat you out I'm here to help you,"

"Fitz why would you..."

"It's what you want, I thinks it's a good idea for you to get away from everything for a little while, at least until the others have calmed down."

"How exactly are you going to help us?" Ward asked.

"I know the code for the door, Coulson did change it,"

Skye looked down at the ground at this, noticing her reaction Fitz replied.

"He was just worried about you Skye, don't worry he gave me the code."

"Fitz, you don't have to do this, you could get in trouble..." Skye said.

"I know I don't have to, I want to you’re my friend, if you need to leave for a few days then who am I to stop you?"

"Thank you Fitz." Skye said with tears in her eyes she turned around to hug him.

"You're welcome, just promise me you'll be careful out there." Fitz said returning the hug before typing in the code, and the door began to rise. He turned towards Ward "I trust you'll take care of her?"

"Always, and thanks Fitz." he replied before pulling the smaller man into a hug.

"You're welcome now go, I’ll try and buy you as much time as possible, Skye make sure you hack the cameras, so you can erase you and Ward leaving."

"I will, and thanks again Fitz , take care of yourself,"

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

And then they both turned and headed out the hangar door.

"First things first, " Ward said. "We need a car, we can use a shield suv for a little bit, not for long though no doubt they have trackers, I have a deposit box not far from here we'll travel in the suv for a few miles, ditch it on the side of the road and hike the last few miles to the deposit box and go from there, sound good?"

"Yeah, I hack the camera feed while your driving," They both climbed into the suv

"You ready ?" Ward asked.

Skye took a deep breath and released it before replying "as ready as I'll ever be..."

With that the engine roared to life and they started down the road to the unknown.

They were easily able to ditch the suv after a few miles and trekked the rest of the way to Ward's deposit box, where they acquired stuff they would need , money, medical supplies, keys to a safe house , and surprisingly keys to a car if there was one and only thing Skye could thank Garrett for it was that he had provided well for his so called "perfect soldiers" , not that it made her hate him any less, still it was nice having something instead of nothing even if the provider was a bastard who deserved to rot in hell, they hitched taxi to a restaurant where they ate , and then took the taxi to the start of the trail that would lead them to the safe house and the car.

Ward turned the key in the lock and the door swung open with a creak, causing sunlight to spill across the floor and long ago settled dust to swirl in the air.We'll need to do a little dusting , as well as opening all the windows to air out the place, but it shouldn't be too bad, it's got electricity and running water , I'll need to go turn those on, we should be safe here it's off the grid, hopefully we'll find where your father is soon."

"I don't even know where to begin looking, " Skye said with tears in her eyes

"Hey," Ward comforted pulling her into his arms "If anyone can find him it's you ok, I've seen what you can do, we 'll find him, for now don't worry about it right now, I'm going to go turn on the water and electricity, can you start sweeping all the floors and open the windows, there should be a broom in the closet, "

"Yeah I can do that, "

"Good"

"Thank you Ward, for doing this for me."  
  
"You're welcome." he pressed a light kiss to her lips before letting her go and heading towards the back of cabin.  
  
Not much else happened that night they finished cleaning up the cabin, ate dinner and started getting ready for bed.

Skye was already lying in the bed when Ward came in from finishing brushing his teeth, he climbed into bed and she instantly curled into his side, he pulled her closer and shut off the light." We'll start looking for him in the morning ok?"

Skye simply nodded her head.

"Good night Skye."

"Good night Grant."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

It was the shaking that woke Ward , he could feel the cabin shaking he instantly glanced over towards Skye , she was tossing and turning, every now and then a faint whimper would escape her lips, Ward knew well enough that she was having a nightmare. He leaned over and pulled her into his arms "Skye ," he whispered gently as as not to startle her awake, "Skye wake up, it's ok we're safe." Finally her eyes opened and the shaking stopped as she looked into his eyes.

  
"I'm sorry, I didn't know that would happen, I was just.."

"Having a nightmare?"

She let out a sigh "Yeah."

"Do you want to talk about it? It might help."

"I was out in the field , Shield was there and they had their guns trained on me,"

"You know I'd never let that happen to you and neither would the team."

"I'm not so sure of that anymore, the team's scared of me now."

"They just don't understand yet, people fear what they don't understand, if you can learn to control this, and then show them that, it might help them better understand, but I don't think they hurt you,"

"But what if I can't learn to control it? Are they gonna lock me up like some kind of animal, put me away because I'm dangerous, because I'm a threat?"

"You will be able to control it, I know you will, you're capable of so much, you have already accomplished so much I'm so proud of you, you're amazing, and you're going to get through this, just like all the other things you've accomplished and been through, and I'll be here every step of the way."

  
"You really believe that?"

"I do."

"Well at least I've got one person on my side. Thank you, it helped talking about it, I think I can get back to sleep now, "

"You're welcome, we'll start on getting this all sorted out in the morning okay?"

""Hmm...okay" she said snuggling closer to him. "I love you, Grant."

"And I love you Skye."

Morning broke and with it Skye could smell pancakes and bacon, she opened her eyes and noticed Ward was not in the bed yawning, she stretched and got out of bed. She padded to the kitchen area and saw Ward, he was cooking on the stove , his back to her, she quietly walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around him.

"Good Morning." she said her voice still raspy from sleep.

"Morning, beautiful, I made you breakfast"

"Mmm...it smells delicious."

"It's almost done, why don't you go set the table?"

"Okay."

Skye quickly found all the items she would need and set the table before she sat down. Ward brought over a huge plate of chocolate chip pancakes and placed a big stack in front of Skye, he also gave her some bacon. He turned back to the counter and picked up the coffee pot and poured coffee into her mug, before sitting down and serving himself.

"My favorite!" Skye said reaching across the table and grabbing the syrup and then pouring it over her pancakes, before digging in. "Oh my god these are amazing Ward!"

Ward let out an amused chuckle "glad you like them, so how are you feeling this morning?"

"Better, although I still have no idea where to start,"

"Well considering we haven't really heard any news about your father I'd say he's on the run and trying to lay low, so he's gone be in a place away from the public eye, I don't know if he has a safe house like this but it's possible, I'm sure you'll be able to find him using your laptop with a bit of research and hacking."

"Is my laptop even safe to use? Will Shield be able to find us if I use it?"

"It should be, this place is off the grid."

"Okay I'll get started on that after breakfast."

"Good."

After breakfast Skye logged on to her laptop after hours of searching she finally found him, he had been caught on a camera at a gas station and after some help from Ward, they were able to track him down at a small house . Ward downloaded the directions before turning to Skye.

"You ready to go?"

She let out a sigh.

“Yeah, I'm ready."

Ward stood up and reached out his hand, Skye smiled and took his hand and stood up, as Ward lead her to the car.

  
The little house stood before them, Skye was on the steps, she took a deep breath and took Ward's hand before knocking on the door."

There was no response, so she knocked again this time louder , this time they heard the shuffling of feet. Time stretched on before the lock clicked and the door slowly creaked open.

"Daisy is that you?" came a voice .

"Yes it's me."

The door opened all the way to reveal a smiling man.

"Daisy ! What are you doing here?" He said surprise and enthusiasm in his voice.

"I changed just like you said I would and ..."

"People, don't understand, I knew they wouldn't, they never understand..." He glanced over and for the first time noticed Ward.

"Who is this Daisy? He's not trying to kidnap you is he?" He asked.

  
"No, No this is Grant, he's the only one who doesn't look and me differently, that doesn't care that I've changed, he understands and .....he's also my boyfriend."

  
"Hello sir, " Ward said extending his hand out.

Skye's father looked him up and down with a slight glare his smile turning to a frown, before relaxing his face muscles as he noticed Ward and Skye's intertwined hands.

"Calvin Johnson," he said his smile returning and extending his hand and gave his hand a firm shake.

"Grant Ward." he said as he returned the shake.

"Why don't you come in and sit down and we can talk."

He stepped a side.

Skye and Ward stepped inside. Cal shut the door behind them and gestured to the coach.

"Please make yourself comfortable, do you want anything? Water? Food?, I'm sorry I still don't have any cookies, the store was out when I went."

"I think we're ok. Ca...Dad," Skye responded. She and Ward sat down the the coach.

"Oh okay, " Cal said taking a seat across from them.

"So tell me what happened."

After explaining what happened Cal took a deep breath "so you create earthquakes, I don't think I would've guessed that for you, but it's certainly a good one to have very strong and useful,"

"That's just the thing," Skye said. "I'm not so sure it is good, I don't know how to control it, I don't even know why this happened to me, and I was hoping you might have some answers."

"I wish your mother was here, she'd be able to explain it much better than I ever could, but yes I can explain what happened to you,"

After Cal's explanation Skye finally learned that she was an inhuman , that the crystals had activated a gene inside her that had before then lay dormant.

"Okay, so I now know what I am, and why this happened, but that still doesn't help me control these powers.. " Skye told her father.

  
"Right, well your mother used to run a place for newly trained inhumans in China, called it Afterlife , it was a place newly transformed inhumans could go live at and learn to control their powers, I think it still exists,”

"So, are you suggesting that I go there?"

"Well, it might help.There’s a problem, they don't take to kindly to humans, and I can't imagine you'll want to go there without Mr. Ward here, considering you came all the way out here with him." Cal said glancing over at Ward.

"They don't like humans?"

"They don't like them at Afterlife, they're more comfortable around their own people, Afterlife is a sanctuary for them, a place hidden away from the rest of the world with people who are like them, most people aren't as understanding, they fear what they don't understand. I used to go there with your mother, and I could tell they felt uncomfortable when I was there, that they didn't want me there, of course my history could have something to do with it too, either way they're not the biggest fans of.... outsiders, but perhaps you should still consider it?"

"Well, you’re right I wouldn't want to go there without Grant, but I don't know where else I could go, what I could do, the bottom line is I need to learn how to control these powers as quickly as possible."

  
"Right well you don't have to decide right now, in fact you two are welcome to stay here for a few days, until you decide the next best step, If you want to that is."

Skye glanced at Ward to gage his reaction. "What do you think Ward?"

  
"Might be a good idea, this place seems to off the grid, and Mr. Johnson,"

"You can call me Cal, "

"Right, Cal does seem to know a lot about what you’re going through."

Skye took on a deep breath and let it out.   
"Okay, we'll stay, but when we decided to leave wherever that may be , you have to let us leave, " she said addressing her father.

"Oh of course, I was hoping you'd say yes, I'll order us some food and while we wait we can talk about the story of you two, I'd like to hear it... Is Chinese ok?"

"Chinese sounds perfect."

"Wonderful, I get right on ordering that."

Cal set about ordering the food before turning back to the couple. "So what's the story behind you two?"

"You want to tell it Skye or should I?" Ward asked

"No It's ok I'll tell it.... it all started when S.H.I.E.L.D. found me in the back of a van."

The food arrived in the middle of Skye and Ward's story, they moved to the kitchen sat down to eat and continue the story.

"And then we finally decided to come here, hoping you would have some answers." Skye finished.

Cal had a smile on his face as she finished the story, "Imagine that my Daisy in love,"

"Yes. Well it's been a long and bumpy road for us, but we're taking it day by day, and exploring what this relationship could be for us, in a way we're wiping the slate clean and starting anew, and so far it's been worth it, I think we've both become better because of it, we're good for one another, we balance each other out." Skye explained

"Well Mr. Ward does seem like a fine young man, " Cal replied.

"Thank you,Cal." Ward said.

"I'm happy for you Daisy, I'm happy for the both of you. You do seem to make each other happy." Cal said as they finished dinner. "Well, looks like we're all done eating, I'll clean up and then well I have some board games, maybe we could play one of those?"

"You know what?" Skye started. "That sounds like a really good, idea I miss being "normal", I want a break, no powers , no S.H.I.E.L.D., just me, you and Grant playing a game like it's any normal day, so we'd love to play some board games." She finished.

"Wonderfu." Cal said clapping his hands together "I'll clean this up , you can go pick out some games."

"Dad, we can help you clean up..."

"No, no you’re my guests now go pick out some games."

For a few hours they played games , talking and laughing, until Cal glanced up at the clock.

"We'll it's getting pretty late, I should start getting your room ready, " He stood up and left the room.

"He seems....sweet. " Ward stated after he was sure Cal was out of earshot.

"Yeah, he does, but It's only been one night." Skye commented.

"Are you uncomfortable? Do you want to leave?"

"No, I'm fine staying here for a little bit, I just think we still need to be cautious that's all, we still don't know much about him."

"Of course," Ward said walking over and pulling her into his arms and pressing a kiss to her temple "We'll stay cautious, but I do think we're safe here at least for now; now why don't we clean up these board games while we wait?"

"Sounds like a plan."

After putting the games away, Cal came back into the room and led the to the guest room.

"I hope everything is okay" he said.

"Everything is fine, and thanks again for letting us stay here" Skye responded.

"You're welcome, I'll uh... Let you two get settled, if you need anything I'm right down the hall, good night."

"Good night." Skye and Ward said in unison.

Once Cal had left they shut the door behind them and got ready for bed, and crawled in Skye instantly curled into Ward's side and resting her head on his chest just above his heart, Ward's arms wrapped around her in a warm embrace, before he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Ward, do you still love me?" Skye asked.

"Of course I do, what would make you think I didn't?"

"Well, we just found out I'm a inhuman, I am an alien."

"Only part alien, according to your father, and do you really think that changes how I feel about you. You’re still the same person I fell in love with, this is just part of who you are and I love everything about you Skye, I loved you before and I still love you now."

"I love you too Grant, so much," Skye said lifting her head to kiss him, which he happily returned, eventually they broke for air and she rested her head back on his chest.

  
They lay in silence for a few minutes before Ward started softly chuckling.

"What?" Skye asked lifting her her head up to look at Ward.

"Oh, nothing it just dawned on me that you called me your boyfriend when we first got here."

"Well for all intents and purposes you are, I mean if you want me to call you that or is it still too early to be calling you that?"

"No, not so long as you don't mind me calling you my girlfriend."

"No, I don't mind that at all.."

"Good , now that we have that all sorted out, let's get some sleep."

""Ok, goodnight Grant I love you."

"And you know that I most certainly love you...."

Ward woke up at 5:30 on the dot, Skye was still asleep, but started stirring when he shifted,

"Shhh," He whispered "Go back to sleep."

Hmm, no, it's fine, I need to get up so we can,"

"You need sleep, it's been a long couple of days and a lot has happened. We're safe here, sleep in for once,"

"Hmmm okay"

"I'll be back okay?"

"Where are you going?" Skye asked her eyes still closed.

"Just for a short run, I'm sure I'll be back before you even wake up."

"Okay."

Ward smiled before climbing out of the bed, he put on his workout clothes and quietly shut the door as he left the room.

He proceeded down the hallway, and stopped when he noticed Cal sitting on the couch.\

"Good Morning Mr. Ward, Is Daisy ok? She's not sick or hurt is she?"

"No, she's just sleeping, she needs sleep after these past few days,and you can call me Grant."

"Right, well Grant were you planning on making breakfast because I can totally do that,"

"I was just going to go for a short run,"

  
"Well, okay if you have plans, I was just hoping we could sit down and talk, Hmmm seems kind of silly that I want to sit you down and give you the "the talk" like the two of you are teenagers."

"If you want to talk, we can talk." Ward said taking a seat across from Cal.

"Good, well I suppose the first thing I should say is you better not hurt my little girl, I have a much nastier side and I'd prefer he didn't come out."

"I’ve already hurt her once, and I would never imagine doing it again."

"Good. I'll admit I was upset when I heard you had betrayed my Daisy, but you seem to be working everything out , she seems to have forgiven you."

"There are times I still can't believe it myself, after everything I did I wouldn't blame her for hating me for the rest of her life, but by some miracle she decided to give me a second chance."

"Oh it's no miracle," Cal said with a smile "It's not hard to tell you to love each other."

"Really? How so?" Ward asked genuinely curious.

"The way you look at each other with adoration, the affection in your tone when you speak to one another, the way you’re never too far apart always close enough to hold hands or brush a stray hair out of the way, how you look to one another to decide something or finish each other's sentences, little things like that...Reminds me a lot of me and my wife," Cal finished with a sad smile

"I'm sorry , I know losing your wife must have been hard, if you don't want to talk about it."

"No, it's fine, surprisingly it helps talking about her, keeps her alive in a way, if only by memory, she was so beautiful and I loved her, it sent me to a very dark place when I lost her, a place I didn't think I'd be able to come back from, but knowing Daisy was alive, was enough to pull me from the brink, she actually reminds me a lot of her mother."

"I was in a dark place for a long time too, I just didn't realize it until I thought it was too late, but Skye was able to pull me back into the light and I'm extremely grateful for it."

"Ah… see like I said just like her mother, her mother had a natural inclination to help people, make them see they weren't the monsters everyone else made them out to be, that's why she started Afterlife, to help people, Daisy would have done well to train under her."

"She sounds like a fine women, I'm sorry for your loss, I know Skye wanted to meet both her parents and is upset that she'll never get to meet her mother, but at least she know about her, knows that she has one."

"That's one of the things I regret the most, that we'll never get to be a proper family, That Daisy will never be able to get to know her mother personally."

"She still has you though, and it's like you said you can keep her memory alive, she was willing to to give me a second chance , to wipe the slate clean, and I think she'd be willing to do that with you too, start making new memories to focus on instead of the painful old ones."

"We'll just have to wait and see, Well I think we've talked long enough I should let you go on your run." Cal said standing up from the coach.

"I think I'll pass on that today."

  
"Then I'll start on breakfast, go check on Daisy and see if she's awake yet."

"Alright."

  
Ward walked to the bedroom and quietly opened the door he saw Skye sitting up in bed, his hair still rustled from sleep. A smile spread across his face.

  
"Morning beautiful."

"Good morning, " she said with a yawn "How was your run?"

  
"Oh I didn't end up going,"

  
"What why not?"

"Your father wanted to talk."

"Oh no , he didn't give you "the talk" did he? Oh my god I'm so sorry..." She said blushing red and trying to burrow her face in a pillow to hide her embarrassment.

"Oh, don't worry It wasn't bad, it was actually kind of nice to talk to him for a little bit."

"So what's the plan for today?"

"Well your dad's making us breakfast and then we'll go from there ok?"

"Sounds good to me." Skye said standing up and walking over to him she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

She pulled away, much to his dismay, before reaching out her hand which he took.

"Now come on and let's go get some breakfast I'm starving!"

 

 

 

 


	32. The Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I broke my own rule of not letting this fic fo more than a year without being updated, I've had writers block and been busy. Thanks to my beta reader Cassandra S Fisher. Hope you like the chapter

Chapter 32

After eating breakfast, they all sat down to discuss Afterlife further.

"If I decided I wanted to go," Skye began "How exactly would I get there?

Cal smiled. "I know a guy, his name is Gordon, he can teleport,"

"So he's a Inhuman too?" 

"Yes he is, just say the word and I'll ask him to come, or you can ask him to come, you just need to call out his name, tell him that you need him, and he'll come and take you to Afterlife."

"Would he take Grant too?"

"I don't know, you could always ask."

Skye let out a sigh "I think it's a good idea for me to go there, it may be the only safe place for me to learn how to control these new abilities, but I'll only go if Grant can come to."

 

"Well I'm not sure how they will feel about a human in their midst, but if it's the only way you'll go..." Cal replied

"Skye," Ward said "if you need to go alone, it's fine, I'll wait here for you, I promise I'll be good, "

"No!" Skye protested "I want you there Grant, I love you and you bring me comfort, I'm not going to know anyone there, having you there will help me to adjust and it's easier for me to calm down when you're with me,"

"But if they don't let me come, if you really want to learn how to control it, and this is the only solution, maybe it's best I stay here."

"They'll just have to make an exception," Skye said "because I'm not going there without you..."

Ward let out a sigh. "Okay, I'll go with you if they let me, I just want to ensure you have the best chance possible to be able to work with these people, I don't want to be the reason why they won't help you."

"I know you mean well Grant, and I appreciate that I guess we'll just have to wait and see what they say."

"Well..." said Cal "I guess it's been decided. Gordon I need you." 

A blue light filled the room and a man appeared , "You rang?" 

He asked he lacked any eyes 

"Yes," said Cal “This is my daughter and she .."

"Went through terrigenous and needs help." Gordon finished. 

"Yes."

"There's someone else here to, another human." Gordon observed.

"That would be Mr. Ward, he wishes to accompany Daisy to Afterlife."

"But he's not one of us, he'll nev-"

"Please can't we make an exception?" Skye inquired “It will really help me if he's there."

The silence stretched on for what seemed like hours before Gordon finally broke the silence "I suppose we can ask, but be warned Mr. Ward even if you're allowed to stay, you probably won't be very popular..."

"Yes, I'm aware sir and I'm willing to deal with that if I'm allowed to stay."

"Alright then let's go." 

Skye turned towards her father "Thank you, for everything." she said giving him a hug. 

"You're welcome." He said "Now, you should get going." 

Skye stepped away from him and stepped back towards Ward who wrapped his arm around her, Gordon placed his hands on Skye and Ward there was a flash of blue light, Ward could feel them move, and yet they stayed in the same place, he glanced over and noticed Skye had closed her eyes, he watched as the world went by in a blur, until they came to a stop. He looked around and notices they were in the mountains and based on the architecture of the buildings surrounded them he guessed they were in China. "Skye," he whispered "We're here" she opened her eyes and looked around. A cold wind blew causing Skye to shiver Ward pulled her closer and she melted into him. He noticed the people in this place were now focused on them , slowly they started to approach.

A man spoke from the crowd "Who is this?"

"It's Jaying's daughter." said Gordon.

"Not her, him." the man said pointing a finger at Ward. "There's something different about him, he's a human isn't he?"

Cries of protest broke out.

"Now calm down," Gordon said "Just let us explain the situation...."

The crowd didn't seem to hear him as they moved closer.

Ward's grip tightened around Skye.

"Stop!" A voice cried out. 

The crowd parted and a familiar face came into view.

"Raina?!"


End file.
